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TRAVELS IN FRANCE 




BRITISH ISLANDS 



BY THE 



REV. M. FLOYD. 



'I HAVE SEEN SOMETHING OP THE WORLD AND YET HAVE NOT BEEN SEEN/ 



PHILADELPHIA: 

J. B. LIPPINCOTT & CO. 

1859. 



Entered, according to Act of Congress, in the year 1858, by the 

REV. M. PLOYD, 

In the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the United States for the Western 

District of Pennsylvania. 






PREFACE. 



The following letters are designed to give a brief account of 
the writer's peregrinations, during an absence from home of six 
months, in France and the British Islands. In these times, when 
between 30,000 and 40,000 of the people of this country annu- 
ally travel in Europe, the subject discussed cannot be altogether 
uninteresting to those who prefer, like King David's two hundred 
men, " to abide by the stuff." 

Nothing like originality has been aimed at, and therefore there 

has never been any hesitation, because it has been spoken of by 

others, to describe a thing worthy of notice. Accuracy, not ori- 

« 
ginality, is what has been sought after. Yet errors have, no 

doubt, been fallen into. This, indeed, seems unavoidable. In 

the original letters such statistics as could be obtained were 

given, those being generally afterwards corrected when copies 

were about being made for the press. 

It may be remarked that, in relation to places and things, 

more has been observed, than as to persons or society. This 

resulted mainly from the causes that, after all, the grand charac- 

(iii) 



IV PREFACE. 

teristics of French or British society are not vastly different from 
those of American, and therefore to discriminate was not very 
necessary, and that to say much about them would have taken up 
too much space. 

It will only further be said that these traveling epistles would 
never have been put into the printer's hands, if it had not been 
that the author has been professionally idle, which has led him 
to a review of what he had written and put away. 

December, 1858. 



CONTENTS. 



NO. I. 



Journey to New York; Taking Passage ; Passengers; Voyage 
to Havre ; Islands of Ice ; Land Birds far at Sea ; At the Pier. 13 

NO. 11. 

Stay in Havre : Anniversary of Napoleon's Death ; Catholic 
Prayer-meeting, with Soldiers, &c. ; The Citadel ; Sully's Pri- 
son ; Country to Rouen ; Rouen ; Joan of Arc, &c. ; ■ Way to 
Paris ; Vegetation ; Peculiarity of Houses in France, and of 
Bedsteads 18 

NO. III. 

Memoirs of Paris ; Drive to Hotel ; Triumphal Column ; Edifice 
called the Bourse; Palais Royal 25 

NO. IV. 

Streets of Richelieu and Rivoli ; Obelisk of Luxor ; (the spot of 
the Guillotine;) Place de la Concorde; Emperor's Palace; 
Place de Carrousel, and its connection with the French Revo- 
lution ; Palais of the Louvre ; Its Wonderful Collections of 
Antiquities, Paintings, and Curiosities ; Near by, the Old 
Church of St. Germain I'Auxerrois ; Its Belfry on the Night of 
St. Bartholomew 30 

NO. V. 

The Elys^e-Bourbon ; Emperor's Pavilion ; The Luxembourg ; 
The Senate Chamber ; Hotel de Petit ; Ney shot close by ; 
French Legislative Hall ; Imperial Library ; Hannibal's 
Shield ; One of the First Books Printed ; Coin of Romulus, &c. 40 

NO. VL 

Drive from Place de la^ourse to Industrial Palace and thence, 
&c. ; General of the Imperial Guard, and Guard ; Artesian 
Well of Crenelle ; Return to the Industrial Palace ; Emperor 
and Empress ; Cortege, Civil and Military ; Visit, on next 
day, to Interior of Palace; Rain 47 

1* (V) 



VI CONTENTS. 

NO. VII. 

PAGE 

Visit to several celebrated Places on Miscellaneous Occasions; 
The Hotel des Invalids ; Its Old Soldiers ; The Waking of a 
Veteran; Turenne's Grave; De Vauban's ; Napoleon's; St. 
Arnaud's ; Cannon, &c. ; The Hotel de Ville ; The Place de 
Greve ; (where a famous Guillotine, &c. ;) Julian's Baths; 
(Fragment of an old Roman Palace;) The Sorbonne; The 
Garden of Plants ; Cedar of Lebanon ; New Hotel 56 

NO. VIII. 

Proper soon to close Notes on Paris ; Burial-places ; Abelard ; 
Places in the Environs of Paris, &c 64 

NO. IX. 

Visits to Churches ; French Catholic Church-going ; The Made- 
leine ; The Pantheon ; Notre Dame ; Pope's Robes ; Protestant 
Churches; French Sabbaths; a Protestant Sermon 70 

NO. X. 

Wood of Boulogne; Wellington's Army; Dueling; Military 
Events, &c. ; Labienus ; Normans; English; The Fronde; 
Revolution of 11,89; Russians and Prussians; British and 
Prussians; Revolutions of 1830 and 1848; Coup d'Etat;- For- 
tifications 80 

NO. XL 

Departure from Paris ; Female Ticket Agent ; The Road through 
the Cordon of Fortifications ; Amiens and River Somme ; 
Abbeville ; Battle of Crecy ; Boulogne ; Hotel kept by a New 
Yorker ; Caligula and Army ; Claudius ; Constantius Chlorus ; 
Atilla ; Normans; Napoleon L, Camp, and Flotilla; Scheme 
of Invasion; Napoleon III., &c. ; Old and New Towns; 
Squares ; English Schools and Churches ; Napoleon Column ; 
Camp of 40,000 men; (visit to;) French Farming 86 

NO. XI L 

Passage to England ; Intercourse Between France and England ; 
Folkstone ; Romney Marsh ; Farming ; Hop-raising ; Appear- 
ance of Country; View of Sydenham Crystal Palace; Hotel 
in London ., 94 

NO. XIIL • 

Extent of London to the New-comer ; Crowding in some Streets ; 
Traveling on the River ; First Historical Notice of; Saxon 
Capital ; Charters ; Boat on Thames ; Tunnel ; Excursion up 
to, &c 97 



CONTENTS. . Vll 

NO. XIV. 

PAGE 

Visit to St. Paul's ; View of it ; Monuments ; Wellington and 
Nelson; Ascent of Dome; Size; Architect; Bell; Westmin- 
ster Abbey ; Size ; Age ; Internal Aspect ; Painted Windows ; 
Chapels ; Westminster Assembly ; Royal Vaults ; Stone of 
Scone ; Celebrated Graves of Philosophers, Poets, Scholars, 
and Statesmen ; Evening Religious Service 103 

NO. XV. 

Situation of the Tower ; Portcullis ; Bloody Tower ; White Tow- 
er ; Council-room of the Old Kings ; Raleigh's Prison ; Eques- 
trian Figures in Mail Armor ; Royal Insignia ; The Tower as 
a Stronghold ; Its Ancient Royal Palace ; Once a Prison ; 
Eang Baliol ; Wallace ; Bruce ; John of France, &c. ; Collec- 
tions of Armor ; Heading-Block and Ax ; St. Peter's ; The 
Dead in its Vaults 113 

NO. XVI. 

Churches in London; Service in St. Saviour's ; St. Giles's-in-the- 
Fields ; Presbyterian Church and Dr. Cumming ; Royal Chapel 
of Whitehall ; (Sermon in ;) St. Giles's, Cripplegate ; Grave of 
Milton ; Surry Chapel ; Divine Service at Lambeth ; Exeter 
Hall; Desire to Visit the Church of the Crusaders 123 

NO. XVIL 

Visit to the British Museum ; Where Located ; Its Antiquities ; 
Grecian ; Italian ; Roman ; Old British ; Ninevite ; Obelisk ; 
Rosetta Stone ; Mummies ; Elgin Marbles ; Phigalean Mar- 
bles ; Columns from the Mausoleum ; Etruscan Vases ; Terra- 
Cottas ; Portland Vase, &c. ; Irish Arrow-heads ; Skene ; The 
Great Charter ; Library ; Ninevite Sculptures ; Pannels of 
Alabaster ; Bronze Dishes 2500 Years of Age ; Roman Mosaic ; 
Altars ; Votive Tablets ; Miniatures of British Cromlechs ; 
Objects from the Field of Nature, &c. ; Visit to Crystal Pa- 
lace ; Town of Sydenham ; Dermody ; Campbell ; Railroad ; 
Entrance by Colonnade ; Extent of Grounds ; Of Palace ; All 
Glass ; At the Heat of Madeira ; Egyptian Temple, &c. ; Assy- 
rian Architecture ; Greek Agora ; Parthenon ; Roman Forum ; 
Coliseum, &c. ; Pompeian House ; Casts of Sculptures ; Por- 
trait Gallery ; Orange-Trees ; Palms ; Date-palms ; Olive- 
Trees ; Pomegranates ; Machinery ; Musical Band ; Park and 
Gardens: Plant 3000 Years Old 134 

NO. XVIIL 

Journey to, &c. ; Staines ; Egham ; Independent Chapel ; 
Preaching; Runnimede ; Magna Charta Islet; 640 Years 
Ago ; Old Windsor ; Home Park ; Windsor Castle ; Hotel ; 
Town; Eton; Stroll in Castle; Worship on Sabbath; Wol- 
sey's Tomb-house ; Gardens; Parks; Windsor Forest; Stoke 
Poge's Churchyard ; Gray; The Penns 152 



Vlll CONTENTS. 

NO. XIX. 

PAGE 

Bank of England ; Exchange ; Mansion House ; Horse Guards ; 
Admiralty ; Blue Coat School ; Some Leading Streets, as Pic- 
cadilly, &c. ; Smithfield; Tournament; Joust; Euston Sta- 
tion; Inventor of the Locomotive 162 

NO. XX. 

Tickets for Parliament ; Westminster Hall; Coronation Feasts; 
State Trials; New Parliament Houses; Capitol in Washing- 
ton;, House of Commons; Debates; Speakers; Briefness; 
Newspaper Reports; Young Speakers; Dining; House of 
Lords ; Debates ; Speakers ; Bishops ; Lords as a Court of 
Law ; Forensic Eloquence ; Audience Chambers ; Size and 
Shape ; Ladies' Gallery ; Dignity of Deportment ; Dispatch of 
Business ; The Over-talking of the French Legislature ; Criti- 
cisms on Several Speakers, as Graham, Bright, Russell, Pal- 
merston, D'Israeli, Lyndhurst, the Bishop of Chester, Camp- 
bell, Brougham ; No Lobby Crowding ; Unpleasant Adventure. 169 

NO. XXL 

Journey to Bangor ; Towns on Railroad ; Cars ; Chester ; Inn 
in Bangor ; The Town ; Inhabitants are, &c. ; Excursion to 
Penrhyn Slate Quarries ; Island of Anglesea ; Wire Suspension 
Bridge ; Tubular Bridge ; Description ; Historical Associa- 
tions ; Roman Slab; Beaumaris 190 

NO. XXI L 

Journey to Dublin ; Sea-sickness; Kingston; In Dublin; Hotel 
in Westland Row ; Going to Church ; Description of City ; 
History ; Phenix Park ; Vice-Regal Lodge ; Deer ; Law Courts ; 
University, &c 201 

NO. XXIIL 

Christ Church;, St. Patrick's; Presbyterian Churches; Glass- 
nevin; O'Connell; Curran; Circular Road ; Clontarf; Extract 
from Gray 209 

NO. XXIV. 

Journey to Belfast ; Mud-Houses ; Drogheda ; Dundalk ; Belfast ; 
Prosperity; Queen's College; Dr. Cooke; Dr. Montgomery; 
Dr. McCosh 218 

NO. XXV. 

Voyage to Derry ; Fog ; Derry ; Journey to Swilly Bay ; Ap- 
pearance of Country; Bay; Reminiscences, &c. ; Americans.. 225 



CONTENTS. IX 

NO. XXVI. 

PAGE 

Voyage to Glasgow; Beacon-lights; Short Stay at Greenock; 
Mouth of the Clyde; Glasgow; Broomielaw; Railroads to 
Edinburgh ; Edinburgh ; Scene in Prince's Street ; General 
Description of the City ; Society ; Population ; Castle ; Sol- 
diery ; No Music ; Holyrood ; Its Chapel ; Royal Burial Vaults ; 
&c. ; More Ancient Scottish Palaces ; Old Parliament House ; 
Wodrow's Remark; University; Assembly Hall of the Esta- 
blished Church ; Knox's House; Spot of Martyrdom 232 

NO. XXVII. 

Continuation of, &c. ; Halls of Paintings ; Midsummer Night's 
Dream ; Monuments ; Calton Hill ; Old London Road ; Fine 
Prospect; Visit to Arthur's Seat; St. Anthony's Well and 
Chapel ; View from Summit of, &c. ; Prince Arthur ; Excur- 
sion to Leith ; Pier ; Excursion to Stirling ; Granton ; Kirk- 
caldy; Inverkeithing ; Alloa ; Windings of the Forth ; Stirling; 
Church ; Castle ; Its Antiquity ; Prospect ; Field of Cambus- 
kenneth ; Wallace; Bannockburn; Bruce; Departure from 
Stirling ; The Religious Services in Several Churches ; Dr. 
Clark; Dr. McCrie; Dr. Candlish; St. Giles's and Dr. 
McClatchie, &c 247 

NO. XXVIII. 

Departure from Edinburgh; Railroads and Country between 
Edinburgh and Glasgow ; Glasgow ; Clyde ; Streets, &c. ; 
Monuments ; Noble Cathedral ; The University ; Its Museum ; 
Ex-President Fillmore ; Annals of the City ; Departure for 
Ireland ; Dunglass and Dumbarton Castles ; The River Lag- 
gan ; Belfast ; Excursion to Carrickfergus ; Its Castle ; An- 
nals of the Town; Ancient Earls of Ulster; Sieges; Rise of 
Irish Presbyterianism ; Return to Belfast ; Antrim ; One of 
the Mysterious Round Towers ; Castles ; John Howe and 
Gowan ; Battle of Antrim ; Ballymena ; Ecclesiastical Meeting 
and Dragoons ; Traveling Companion ; Lough Neagh ; Night 
in Toome Bridge Village ; Mud-Houses ; Aspect of Country ; 
Maghera ; Round Towers ; Aspect of Country ; Carntogher 
Mountains ; Dungiven ; Aspect of Country ; Faughan Vale ; 
Derry 263 

NO. XXIX. 

This the Last Letter from Ireland ; The Region on the Bays, the 
Swilly and the Foyle ; Siae of Donegal County ; Size of Derry 
County; The Property of the London Societies ; Character of 
the Population ; Its Classes ; Employments ; The Climate ; 
Gloominess when Compared with Southern Skies; Dwellings; 
Food; Doe-gun; Cromlech; Lough Derg ; Ruins of the Pa- 
lace of the Old Princes ; Raths ; Ennishowen Castle ; Mongev- 
lin Castle ; Castledoe ; Red Deer ; Towns ; Derry, (Account 



CONTENTS. 



of,;) Brief Annals of the City; Columb of the Churches; 
lona ; King Duncan ; The Rev. Francis McKerny ; Farquhar 
and Toland ; General Richard Montgomery ; The Hibernian 
Dalriada ; The Caledonian ; The Scoti ; Their First Seat in 
the British Islands; History of, &c. ; Days of Paganism ; The 
Younger Patricius ; The Norsemen ; Invasion of the Munster- 
men in 1134; De Courcy ; Expedition to lona; O'Donell at- 
tends Convention, (in 1303,) of the Great Men, &c. ; Protestant 
Reformation ; Bishop of Raphoe, a Member of the Council of 
Trent ; Civil War of the Three Provinces against the Vice- 
Regal Government; Subsequently, a Plot; Forfeitures and 
Plantation; Protestantism; Wars of 1641; Wars of the Bri- 
tish Revolution ; Siege of Derry ; Volunteers ; United Irish- 
men ; Opening of Correspondence, &c. ; Main Political Griev- 
ances; Death of Hoche; General Daendels ; General Bona- 
parte; General Humbert; James Napper Tandy ; Commodore 
Bomparte's Fleet ; Military Force under General Hardy ; Bat- 
tle of Torry Island ; Theobald W. Tone ; Ambushes ; Union ; 
Tandy Seized in Hamburg, &c. ; United Men again Canvassed 
as to, &c. ; Peace of Amiens; Renewal of War between Eng- 
land and France ; Revival, once more, of Correspondence with 
France, through the United States; Jerome Bonaparte in 
America ; His Marriage ; Admission into a French Port, re- 
fused to his Wife ; Himself Blockaded in New York ; Reaches 
France ; Close of the Projects of the United Irishmen ; Dis- 
satisfaction continues; Batteries; Cruisers; A Camp; Loss 
of the Saldanha Frigate 283 

NO. XXX. 

Last Letter from British Soil ; Voyage to Liverpool from Derry ; 
Shores of the Ocean ; The Giant's Causeway ; Rathlin Island 
Laid Waste by the Norsemen ; Robert Bruce ; Night ; Estuary 
of the Mersey ; Bell-buoy; Taking Passage; The Liverpool 
Docks; Streets; St. George's Hall; Sailors' Home ; TheCus- 
tom-House ; The Exchange and Town-Hall ; Nelson's Monu- 
ment ; Complete News-room ; Musjeum of the Royal Institu- 
tion; TheSupply of Water to the Town; Dr. McNeil's Church ; 
His Preaching ; Prince's Park ; Congregation of Dr. Raffles ; 
Increase of Liverpool ; Excursion to Chester ; Bridges in 
Chester ; Its Old Wall ; Battle on Waverton Heath ; Streets ; 
The Abbey and Cathedral; Saxon Arch 1100 Years Old; 
Cof&n of Hugh Lupus ; Trinity Church ; Matthew Henry and 
Parnel ; A Roman Station ; Altar ; Return to Liverpool ; Ship- 
board ; Firing of Batteries ; About to Sail 325 

NO. XXXL 

Now in New York ; Detained ; Occupied in Writing out, &c. ; 
Tugged from Liverpool Docks to Sea by, &c. ; Head Winds; 
A Mountain in Kerry the Last, &c. ; Course ; Brief Hurri- 



CONTENTS. XI 



cane ; A Severe Gale ; A Death ; Average Headway per Day ; 
Gulf Stream ; Bank of Newfoundland ; Sea-Weed ; The Petrel ; 
The Hagnel ; Porpoises ; A Black Fish ; Young Whales ; A 
Shark ; Company ; Preaching ; Sunset ; Pilot-Boat ; Light- 
house Light Visible ; Into New York Bay ; Voyage up ; Re- 
trospect ; French Agriculture ; Forests ; English Agriculture ; 
Woods ; Horses and Cattle ; Crops ; Cobbet and Maize ; 
Draining ; Fences ; Homesteads of the Wealthy ; Scotch Agri- 
culture ; Farms too Large ; Irish Agriculture ; Central Plateau 
of Ireland; The Proportion of Crops Relatively to, &c. ; Im- 
provement; Life, Property, and Reputation; (Security as to;) 
Morals and Religion in France ; Catholicism ; Protestantism ; 
Morals and Religion in England; Defects; Established Church 
of England ; Its Parties ; Dissenters ; Morals and Religion in 
Scotland ; Religious Denominations ; Morals and Religion in 
Ireland ; Temperance in, &c. ; Religious Denominations ; 
Their States, &c. ; Concluding of, &c , 



PAGE 



TRAVELS 

IN 

FRANCE AND THE BRITISH ISLANDS. 



NO. I. 

Journey to New York — Taking Passage — Passengers — Voyage to Havre — ^Islands of 
Ice — Land Birds far at Sea — At the Pier. 

Havre, May 5, 1855. 

I WRITE to let you know my course of travel since I left 
home, up till to-day, when I arrived in this city. You will 
recollect I left home on the morning of Wednesday, the 18th 
of April ; and that night, about midnight, I arrived in Phila- 
delphia. Upon getting thither I directed the driver of a 
cab to take me to a certain hotel ; but, in the exercise of his 
own discretion, he took me to a different place altogether, 
though one sufficiently comfortable. Persons going into a 
strange city should be on their guard against such things, as 
they often lead to unpleasant results. In Philadelphia I 
found I could not get a ship very soon, and therefore resolved 
to go to New York ; in which city I arrived on Friday, the 
20th, at about two o'clock p.m. 

There, there were two steamers to leave for Europe the 
next day at twelve o'clock — one for Southampton and the 
other for Havre ; and, being determined to go in one of these, 
the passage-money being the same in both, I concluded to 
go to Havre in the North Star, which is reckoned to be a fast 
ship, while the other, which was heavily laden, is said to be 
much slower. So, having obtained a passport, and attended 
to other necessary preparations, at the expense of a very tho- 
ough drenching, I sailed at about half-past one o'clock on 

1 13 



14 TRAVELS IN FRANCE 

Saturday, the 21st of April. I would have sailed for Liver- 
pool if a boat had been immediately sailing to that port ; but, 
this not being the case, I thought I might as well pay my 
bill in a hotel in France, and see that country, as pay at one 
in New York. Also, this was only reversing the order of 
my journey; as I had resolved when leaving hometo visit, at 
all events, France before my return. We had, if I made a 
correct estimate, about one hundred and twenty or thirty 
passengers ; more than half being French, and the remainder 
being Germans, Belgians, Mexicans, Cubans, Chilians, Mar- 
tiniqueans, and Jews. There were also six or seven Ame- 
ricans and one Englishman. One of the passengers was a 
German Catholic priest. When our vessel was about clear- 
ing herself of the wharf, the crowd of New York French, 
assembled to bid their friends good-bye, was quite large. 
And then, what waving of handkerchiefs and cheers ! while 
the crew, meanwhile, fired off from their small pieces of artil- 
lery several volleys. 

The forming of an acquaintance with several of the pas- 
sengers assisted greatly in making the voyage pleasant. I 
had much agreeable chit-chat and a good deal of conversa- 
tion on grave subjects with a number of them. Among these 
I may name the priest (a mild and companionable man,) a 
young New Yorker (a correspondent of one of the New 
York newspapers,) a Baltimorean (who has latterly for many 
years been a resident in Cuba — a man speaking French, 
Spanish, and Italian, as if each of these were his vernacular,) 
a young Cuban going to Europe for an education, a Mexi- 
can on his way to Paris in company with his daughter, an- 
other Mexican on his way to Ilome along with his newly 
married wife, and a Prussian-Pole from the neighbor- 
hood of the line separating Prussia and Russia. But per- 
haps there was no person with whom I talked so much as 
with Mr. y., the late Begian Consul in Havana. This man 
I found exceedingly intelligent, conversable, and reasonable. 
He had his wife and family along, being on his way to Europe 
to educate his children. I also became very well acquainted 
with a young French officer, a native of Nantes, on his way 
home. He had been engaged in fighting against the barri- 
cades in Paris ; and gave me accounts of some of the military 
events connected with the late struggles in that capital. I also 
became quite intimate with a family from the Island of Mar- 



AND THE BRITISH ISLANDS. 15 

tinique. In the company of the persons enumerated, and of 
others, time passed rapidly away; talking of Cuba and its 
annexation to the United States — annexation being quite 
an unpleasant idea to the Cubans ; — and hearing of the 
bravery of Molin de St. Yon, in his white waistcoat and citi- 
zen's dress, with a small caue in his hand, and how, without 
those whom he led knowing who he was, he led the soldiery 
at a run over several successive barricades, only allowing 
them to stop long enough between the successive advances 
barely to recover breath. On these subjects, and also with 
respect to the political merits of Protestantism and of Catho- 
licism, respectively, did we frequently converse. 

I kept an account of the voyage, so that H. and S. might 
trace it on the map ; which I request you to tell them to do, 
and, besides, when I get home, we can all trace it in com- 
pany. 

I said we left New York at half-past twelve o'clock of 
Saturday, the 21st of April, and on the next day, Sunday, 
at twelve o'clock, (at which time of the day a captain at sea 
makes his observations,) we had run 243 miles; being in 40° 
49' K lat. and 69° 08' long. W. from Greenwich. The reck- 
onings on each subsequent day, (at twelve,) were as follows : 

On Monday, in lat. 41° 45' K and long. 63° 15' W.; the 
distance run, during the 24 hours, being 273 miles. 

On Tuesday, in lat. 43° 25' and long. 57° 48'; the dis- 
tance run being 262 miles. 

On Wednesday, in lat. 44° 36' and long. 51° 47'; the dis- 
tance run being 269 miles. 

On Thursday, in lat. 45° 51' and long. 46° 38'; the dis- 
tance run being 231 miles. 

On Friday, in lat. 47° 14' and long. 41° 55'; the distance 
run being 219 miles. 

On Saturday, in lat. 48° 3' and long. 36° 21'; the distance 
run being 244 miles. 

On Sunday, in lat. 50° 6' and long. 29° 56'; the distance 
run being 261 miles. 

On Monday, in lat. 50° 18' and long 23° 10'; the distance 
run being 260 miles. 

On Tuesday, in lat. 49° 49' and long. 17° 1'; the distance 
run being 239 miles. 

On Wednesday, in lat. 49° 21' and long. 13°; the distance 
run being 156 miles. 



16 TRAVELS IN FRANCE 

On Thursday, in lat. 49° 30' and long. Y°'21'; the distance 
run being 218 miles. 

On Friday, in lat. 50° and long. 2° 8'; the distance run 
being 203 miles. 

And on Saturday, (May 5th,) at one o'clock p.m., at the 
pier in this city ; having run, on account of a high head-wind, 
since the observation on Friday, only 88 miles. Thus our 
voyage, as to time, has extended to fourteen days, and in 
that time v^^e have run 2631 miles. 

The incidents of our journey on the deep were not nume- 
rous, but some things may deserve a passing notice. On 
Thursday, the 26th of April, at about eleven o'clock a.m., 
we had a fine view of an island of ice, coldly glittering with 
a bright radiance. It was about one-half mile across, each 
way, and drifted past us at the distance of a quarter or a half 
mile. In the afternoon, two smaller cakes floated by. The 
large cake stood about thirty feet above the water, and, ac- 
cording to the weight of ice relatively to sea-water, the sub- 
merged portion must have been from six to eight times more 
considerable in its thickness than the part emergent. Of 
course, the presence of ice renders the air very cold. After 
this occurrence, not anything turned up to break the mono- 
tony of our voyage till about the middle of the afternoon of 
Monday, the 30th, when a gale from the east began to blow. 
This gale continued for about thirty-three hours, tearing our 
jib to pieces about four o'clock of the morning of Tuesday. 
Again, on the morning of Wednesday, the 2d of May, at ten 
o'clock, a widgeon, blown off by the late storm, alighted on 
the ship and was caught. A couple of hours afterwards, a 
small bird, taking refuge in our vessel was caught, and in the 
afternoon a swallow, also seeking refuge, was seized. These 
birds must have flown, in a straight line, two hundred and 
fifty miles, to have reached us from the nearest land, the 
southern point of Ireland ; and, if they came from England, 
they must have traveled, by the most direct path, three hun- 
dred and fifty miles ; while the nearest point of France was 
distant from us, where they reached us, three hundred and 
seventy miles. That the seemingly helpless little bird, that 
was the second to rest on our boat, should be able to sustain 
itself for so great a distance over the dreary and stormy At- 
lantic, and especially through the darkness of the night, is 
truly a marvel. Yet well-established facts teach us that the 



AND THE BRITISH ISLANDS. It 

wing of birds has accomplished things vastly more extraor- 
dinary. Thus a land-rail has been killed in the Bermudas ; 
and, as this bird does not inhabit the Western Continent, it 
must have flown all the way over the Atlantic on the wings 
of some storm. Also, it is unquestionable that one of the 
two pidgeous let loose on October 6th or tth, 1850, by Sir 
John Ross, at Assistant Bay, to the west of Wellington 
Sound, in Arctic America, reached, by the 13th of the month 
named, the dove-cot in Ayrshire, in Scotland, from which 
they had been taken, betaking itself, after its long flight, to 
the very niche in which it had been hatched. Before such 
aerial feats the flight of our little visitors sink into insignifi- 
cance. Yet no one could look at the little panting thing 
and fail to wonder how it could accomplish so much. Again, 
the first glimpse of land, after a voyage over the Atlantic, is 
worth chronicling. We had, on Thursday, the 10th, just at 
dark, a clear view of the Lizzard Point, with its two fixed 
lights, the extreme southern point of England ; and on the 
next day, at eleven o'clock, a.m., we had a sight of Cape 
Barfleur, the first portion of the land for which we were 
bound on which we were permitted to look. On the night 
after passing Cape Barfleur, we were, as it seemed to me, on 
the point of running down a fishing-boat. She lay directly 
in our pathway, and we were hurrying on her with all the 
rapidity of steam, when the fishermen, becoming conscious of 
their danger, suddenly raised one of the peculiar lights carried 
by them in those waters, which for a moment blaze, like a 
huge flambeau, and then expire; and thus our helmsman 
avoided her. Only two other incidents will I speak of. On 
Sunday, the 29th of April, we had public worship. I my- 
self preached, the Catholic priest, though I expressed all 
readiness to give way to him, declining. Both the attend- 
ance and the attention were very good. The other incident 
that I will speak of is our arrival, to-day, in the estuary of 
the Seine, and our entrance into this port. 

I have not yet been enough around this city to say a great 
deal in relation to it. From what I have seen of it, I feel 
myself justified in inferring that it is quite thriving. Its 
population is said to amount to thirty thousand. The har- 
bor is the best in this part of France, and yet it is by no 
means naturally good. All along this coast northwestern 
winds prevail, which, carrying the waves upon the shore, 

1* 



18 TRAVELS IN FRANCE 

choke up the inlets and the mouths of rivers with sand and 
mud. And this holds good in relation to Havre as well as 
to other ports, though in a smaller degree. To obviate in 
part this inconvenience, as well as for the shelter it affords, a 
vast pier has been carried far out into the estuary, with a 
lighthouse at its extreme end. Also a number of basins of 
great capacity have been excavated, into which, through ca- 
nals, the shipping enters. These canals are furnished with 
locks and gates, to retain in the basins the water of high 
tide, (which here rises between 22 and 2t feet,) till low wa- 
ter, when the water which has been dammed up is let out 
with a rush, to carry the accumulated sand and mud off. 
These precautionary measures serve to keep the harbor of 
Havre open. 

Meanwhile, I am gathering experience as to hotel life in 
Europe ; taking my meals, as most others do, not at the pub- 
lic hotel table, but by myself 

I expect, by Monday, to start for Rouen and Paris. I 
ought not to conclude this letter without an expression of 
thankfulness to the Good Being who has carried me safely 
through the dangers of the deep. 

Yours, &c., M. F. 



NO. 11. 



stay in Havre — Anniversarj^ of Napoleon's Death — Catholic Prayer-meeting, -with Sol- 
diers, &c. — The Citadel — Sully's Prison — Country to Rouen — Rouen — Joan of Arc, 
Ac. — Way to Paris — Vegetation — Peculiarity of Houses in France, and of Bedsteads. 

PARIS; Rue Joquelet, 11, Place de la Bourse, "I 

May 9, 1855. j 

I WROTE to you, dating from Havre, though I did not 
mail my letter till after arriving in this great city, — the 
capital, in many respects, of the civilized world. In Havre, 
which is quite a thrifty and fine city, one street especially 
being quite spacious and handsome, I stayed through the 
afternoon of Saturday, the day, as I may again mention, of 



AND THE BRITISH ISLANDS. 19 

my arrival, and during Sunday and the first part of Mon- 
day, having been partly induced to stop to avoid unneces- 
sary traveling on the Sabbath. 

The day of my arrival happened to be the anniversary of 
Napoleon's death at St. Helena, — he having died on that 
island, as you will recollect, between five and six o'clock of 
the evening of May 5th, 1821, — a day still observed by 
many of the French as a day of mourning ; so that, on the 
very evening of my setting foot on land, I had an oppor- 
tunity to attend in the cathedral a Roman Catholic prayer- 
meeting. The edifice was grand, the singing splendid, the 
spectacle magnificent, but all was as unlike a meeting for 
social prayer as could well be conceived. And on the next 
day, Sabbath, I attended worship in the English chapel, 
which is Episcopal, in the American, which is Presbyterian, 
and also in the Catholic cathedral. In the cathedral high 
mass was celebrated : the aisles were filled with soldiery, 
two deep, with drums and music ; while the soldiers grounded 
and raised their muskets, and the drums kept time to the 
singing of the choristers and the voice of the organ. 

While in Havre I visited the citadel, — a noble and spacious 
antique edifice, surrounded by a wall, and broad, deep ditch, 
filled with water, and containing a large body of soldiers, 
probably one thousand men. This stronghold is very greatly 
weakened by age, having, I believe, been built by Richelieu. 
There is quite an interesting old building in the town, that 
was once an arsenal. I also was in an old tower in which 
the celebrated Sully was once a prisoner. The town itself 
was founded by Louis XII. in 1509, three hundred and 
forty-six years ago. But, though this is the date of the foun- 
dation of the town, there are many reminiscences connected 
with the port and bay that are vastly more ancient. In the 
reign of the Roman emperor Diocletian, when Carausius, 
the Roman admiral in the British seas, had rebelled, and 
erected Britain into an independent government, which had 
come to be acknowledged by the emperor himself, and, when 
hostilities had broken out afresh, it was from the bay of 
Havre that that Roman fleet issued which, during a fog, 
made its way across to Britain, and made it again submissive. 
Six hundred years afterwards, that is, sometime about the 
year 900, it was the same bay that RoUo the Dane, the 
founder of the Duchy of Normandy, entered, when about 



20 TRAVELS IN FRANCE 

to lead his Norsemen into tlie very heart of France. Also, 
a little more than five hundred years after, it was there that 
Henry Y. of England landed his army of thirty-six thou- 
sand men, when about to lay siege to Harfleur, three miles 
off, and to light the great battle of Agincourt. Again, in 
1562, in the wars of the Huguenots and Catholics, the former, 
with a view to aid from the English, put Havre, which had 
now been founded fifty years, into their hands. Since this 
time, the English, in the wars between them and the French, 
have twice bombarded it; that is, in 16t8 and 1759. I will 
only further remark, in relation to that place, that toward 
the close of 1840, it was the theatre of a portion of the 
funeral honors paid to the great Napoleon when returning 
from his long banishment in St. Helena to repose himself 
on the soil of his beloved France. That banishment had 
lasted twenty-four years, when, after touching at Cherbourg, 
the exiled chief, the idol of the French soldier's soul, entered, 
on the 9th of December, with his attendant train, the mouth 
of the Seine. The corpse stopped at Havre during the 
night, being thence borne, at sunrise next morning, to Paris, 
by steamboat on the river. And perhaps no funeral cere- 
mony was ever before celebrated with so much pomp, nor 
perhaps was there ever before a funeral occasion when the 
sensibilities of so many persons were deeply moved. 

Having looked around Havre, I proceeded to make my 
way through the valley of the Seine to Rouen and Paris. 
And certainly a larger share of quiet beauty is nowhere to 
be met with in any part of the wide world. The country is 
improved like a garden ; no hedges nor fences, except haw- 
thorn hedges on each side of the railroad, being anywhere 
to be met with, but the whole country, mile after mile, lying 
open like the grand prairies of the great West. The houses, 
also, are generally good, some of the chateaus being of a 
superior appearance ; yet there are many straw-thatched 
buildings, t.^ese being thatched and built in an exceedingly 
rude style. The houses are generally covered with hollow 
tiles, put on in a way that is at least not very common in 
America. The fact is, the Seine Valley perhaps surpasses 
anything I have seen in America in beauty and cultivation, 
though not in fertility. 

The only place on the road to Paris of which I will speak 
is Rouen, at which I made a brief stay. 



AND THE BRITISH ISLANDS. 21 

This city, which is seventy miles from Paris and forty-five 
from Havre, is a noble manufacturing city, (being particularly 
noted for its skill in the fabrication of cotton tissues called 
Rouenneries,) and contains nearly one hundred thousand 
persons. It was the capital of the ancient dukes of Nor- 
mandy, a very small fragment of whose old palace there is 
still standing. Thus to it the kings of England may in some 
degree look as their original family seat. 

This city is situated on the right bank of the Seine. It 
stands within a semicircle of hills, which are cultivated, and 
which are affirmed to be as fertile as they certainly are pic- 
turesque. Toward the east is a promenade ground, extend- 
ing along the river for two miles, when it becomes merged 
in the beautiful savanna of Sotteville. A good part of 
the town is encircled by a street planted with trees, named 
the Boulevards. The part within this street is the old part 
of the city, and is made up of narrow streets without side- 
walks, while outside of it the streets are wide. 

It contains many things to interest the stranger. One 
cannot look without interest on the fragments of the old 
palace of the Norman dukes, which, along with the castle of 
Falaise, about seventy miles to the southwest, was the dwell- 
ing-place of the ancient rulers of Normandy. Also the 
cathedral is one of the most magnificent of ecclesiastical 
edifices. Commenced by John of England, surnamed Lack- 
land, the noble pile was not fully completed till a day quite 
recently. It is very large, and is adorned with a very lofty 
iron spire, distinguished for the delicacy and elaborateness 
of the workmanship which it displays. Internally, it is re- 
markable for the loftiness of its pillars, for its sharp Gothic 
arches, for its beautiful pictures, and for its stained windows. 
It contains the tombs of several eminent personages. There 
is the magnificent tomb of Rollo, the first duke of Nor- 
mandy, with himself stretched on it. There was the heart 
of Richard I. of England, Coeur de Lion, interred, over 
which a tomb was erected, surrounded with a silver balus- 
trade, that has long since been carried off, having been used 
to pay a part of the ransom-money of St. Louis when a 
prisoner in the hands of the Saracens in Egypt. There was 
the heart of Charles Y. interred. There is the tomb of Sieur 
de la Bieze, seneschal of Normandy more than three hun- 
dred years ago. At his head stands his widow, Diana of 



22 TRAVELS IN FRANCE 

Poitiers, the favorite and brilliant star of the court of Henry 
II. ; while at his feet is the Yirgin, with her infant Son, the 
Saviour of the world. Again, the church of the ancient 
abbey of St. Ouen is worthy of a visit. It is regarded as 
a very fine piece of architecture. Its nave is remarkable for 
its elegance and magnificence, and its pilasters, seemingly so 
fragile as to be unable to support the burden resting upon 
them, have always been greatly admired. Again, the visitor 
will be taken by his guide to the old St. Maclou Church, 
whose old door, executed by the French sculptor Jean Gou- 
jon, who also executed many works at the Louvre, are wor- 
thy of inspection. Again, he will be taken to the Hotel 
Bourgtherolde, built about 1500, and which was afterwards 
ornamented by a bas-relief representing the Field of the 
Cloth of Gold, and the meeting, in 1520, of Francis I. of 
France, and Henry YIII. of England, — a bas-relief greatly 
and deservedly celebrated, but which can now, in consequence 
of dilapidation and decay, be said only to be seen in copies. 
Again, he will have pointed out to him, in the humble posi- 
tion of the threshold-stone of a house, a plain slab of black 
marble, which, at Jumieges, once covered the mortal remains 
of the person that stirred up the French monarch, Henry 
YII., to the expulsion of the English from France ; I 
speak of Ann Sorel, that monarch's beautiful favorite, and 
the instigator of the great revolution referred to. 

JSTor can the visitor to Rouen leave it without walking 
round to the old market-place where, in 1431, Jeanne d'Arc, 
the noblest enthusiast mentioned in history, was burned. 
This girl, a native of the village of Domremy, on the banks 
of the Meuse, filled partly with an ardor at once patriotic 
and loyal, and partly witli religious enthusiasm, was the 
agent by whom, when the French soldiery had become en- 
tirely desponding and abject in spirit, was enkindled a spirit 
of military boldness and enterprise, which, in spite of the 
death of the heroine who kindled it, finally saved France. 
After performing miracles of valor, she finally fell into the 
hands of the English, at their instigation was tried by her 
own mercenary countrymen as a sorceress and a person hav- 
ing intercourse with infernal spirits, and was condemned. 
And on the spot where her statae stands she was burned at 
the stake, while her ashes were thrown in the river. On 
the statue is her coat of arms, she having been ennobled ; 
and underneath this, an inscription in two Latin verses. 



AND THE BRITISH ISLANDS. 23 

Rouen has produced several eminent French writers. In it 
were born Corneille and Fontenelle. In it was born Peter 
Francis Guyot des Fontaines, known as a most caustic writer. 
Iq it, also, first saw the light, Mary Ann le Page Dubocage, 
a lady who distinguished herself by being the translator, into 
French, of Pope's Temple of Fame and of Milton's Paradise 
Lost, and by being the author of the Columbiad, a poem 
on the discovery of America. 

Nor can I drop the subject of my stopping at Rouen 
without saying a word in relation to some of the events that 
have occurred in connection with its past. In Roman times, 
it was the capital of Lugdumensis Secunda. After Roman 
power had been destroyed, it became subject to the Franks. 
Its main importance, however, dates from the time of Rolio, 
the first duke of Normandy, who estabhshed himself there 
about nine hundred and fifty years ago. It was there that that 
leader had his chief headquarters when carrying on his thirty 
years' war with the French monarchy. It was there, when 
peace was concluded, that he was baptized, and that he mar- 
ried Giselle, the lovely daughter of Charles the Simple. It 
was in it that William the Conqueror, the seventh duke of 
Normandy, was when he received the tidings of the death of 
his cousin, Edward the Confessor, and of the coronation of 
Harold, (a man unrelated to the Saxon kings,) as King of 
England ; and it was in it that he determined on the inva- 
sion of England. It was at the Abbey of St. Gervais, near 
it, that, in 108t, he died. It was in its tower that Prince 
Arthur, the grandson of Henry 11. of England, and, pro- 
ceeding by the rule of primogeniture, rightful heir to the 
throne of that kingdom, was put to death. Next, it was 
taken by Henry Y. of England, in 1418, who also mastered, 
at the same time, all Normandy. Next, in the civil wars of 
the Catholics and Huguenots, we find it in the occupation 
of the latter, when, in 1562, the Catholics took it by storm, 
and pillaged it with ferocious severity. Next, in 1572, 
during the St. Bartholomew slaughter, six thousand Hugue- 
nots were put to death. And lately, in December, 1840, a 
part of the grand funeral honors paid by Louis Philippe's 
government to the remains of the first French emperor, 
was paid by it at the city with regard to which I am writing. 

I will further say of Rouen, that during all of daylight 
that I passed at that city my mind and attention were uuin- 
interruptedly occupied, and that fully. 



24 TRAVELS IN FRANCE 

The country between Rouen and this city is excellent and 
beautiful. As one passes along by railroad, successive scenes 
of loveliness rise upon the vision with the utmost rapidity. 
Along the road lie many vineyards, several chateaus, and, 
among these, one owned, or that had been owned, by the 
late king, Louis Philippe. With respect to this part of my 
journey you must excuse my brevity, on the ground that I 
have already written so much. Suffice it to say that soon 
I reached Paris, and was at the hotel from which I write. 

Before concluding, I will say a few things relating to 
more familiar matters than those of which I have been 
speaking. When I landed on French soil on the 5th of 
May, everything was exceedingly backward, vegetation ap- 
pearing to be only commencing ; but, as I advanced up the 
Seine, the appearance of things altered, and a few warm 
days brought in spring in reality. This state of things, 
when compared with the weather usual at the same season 
in the Middle States of the United States, seemed to corre- 
spond very poorly with the stories that all have heard so 
often about the sunny clime of France. The spring of this 
year, however, has been an exception to all general rules. 
Again, as to the dwelling-houses, their floors are seldom of 
wood, but, instead, are covered with tiles or brick, and, ex- 
cept in some apartment of state in a chateau or palace, 
uncarpeted. Again, the curtains are put on the bedsteads 
differently from our way. There is, in the wall, just at the 
middle of the bedstead, a spike with a large eye in it, this eye 
being perpendicular to the floor ; then a staff of wood, with 
an iron spike on the end of it to fit into the eye of the spike 
in the wall ; and this staff, at its other end, is suspended to a 
hook in a staple in the ceiling. Besides, the head and foot- 
boards of the bedstead are, both of them, very high. Now, 
over these boards, and over the staff spoken of, the curtains 
pass. The plan is a simple and convenient one. 

Yours, &c., M. F. 

P. S. — It may interest you to know that the hotel from 
which I write this letter was occupied by Sir Walter Scott, 
when here collecting materials for his life of Napoleon. In- 
deed, it is probable he occupied the very room I occupy. I 
do not mean that the room is any better on that account, 
yet the association is an agreeable one. 



AND THE BRITISH ISLANDS. 25 



NO. III. 

Memoirs of Paris — Drive to Hotel — Triumphal Column — Edifice called the Bourse — 
Palais Royal. 

Paris, May, 1855. 

I WRITE this letter to state that I am well, and to give some 
account of things that I have seen during my brief sojourn 
in this place. 

Perhaps it may not be amiss if I give you something of a 
general account of Paris itself. Everybody is aware that 
it is an exceedingly ancient city. When I say this I do not 
mean that it is to be compared in this respect with Rome or 
Alexandria, much less with Jerusalem, and especially with 
the most ancient Damascus ; but its antiquity, when it is 
compared with most of the cities now in existence, is very 
great. It is, so far as I am aware, first mentioned by Julius 
Cassar, in whose time it was named Lutetia Parisiorum, then 
being a small and rudely built town, lying in odc of the isles 
in the Seine. His lieutenant, Labrienus, attacked it; and 
the inhabitants having abandoned it, and retired to a brief 
distance, the Roman commander pertinaciously followed and 
defeated them. This battle is supposed to have been fought 
at Meudon, two leagues southwest of the city. The town, 
which had been destroyed, was soon rebuilt by Caesar, and a 
company of merchants, with the exclusive privilege of navi- 
gating the Seine, was established. Subsequently it became 
very prosperous, and was selected as the seat of the Prefect 
of Gaul, for whom a palace was erected on its western side. 
We learn that it was visited by the emperors Constantine 
and Constance ; and Julian, a fragment of whose palace is 
still standing, made it his residence during two or three win- 
ters before his being raised to the purple. In his time it 
still had its main locality in the island of the river on which 
it had been originally built, being accessible by two wooden 
bridges ; while a forest clothed the north bank of the river, 
and on its south bank were houses, the palace, baths, the 
amphitheatre, the aqueduct, and the Field of Mars. Subse- 

2 



26 TRAVELS IN FRANCE 

quently to the days of Julian, Yalentinian issued decrees 
from Paris. And it was under the walls of the city in which 
I am writing that Gratian was abandoned by his troops in 
their preference for Maximus, thus here losing the empire of 
the western world. 

I may here remark that it took the name of Paris about 
the end of Julian's reign, (about 365,) and that, when it was 
captured by the Franks, they confirmed to it this now cele- 
brated appellation. And, after awhile, Clovis, (48t-511,) 
the first Christian King of France, made it the national 
capital. 

Its history, during the greater part of the time from the 
days of Clovis to the present day, is an epitome of the his- 
tory of the French people. Indeed, with the exception of 
Charlemagne, who, it is said, never came to Paris, and who 
only occasionally held his courts at St. Denis, five miles to 
the north of it, and with the exception of his immediate suc- 
cessors, this is the literal fact. In 845, 856, and 8t2, it was 
ravaged by the Normans ; and again, in 885, they attacked 
it when Count Eudes, the grandfather of Hugh Capet, and 
the ancestor of the Capetian race of kings, raised the siege. 
The important parts acted by it in the wars of the League, 
(1576-1595,) in the disturbances of the Fronde, (1648- 
1654,) in the great revolution of 1Y89, and in the two revo- 
lutions since, (of 1830-1848,) are known to all the world. 
Also, every one is familiar with Cavaignac's Battle of the 
Barricades, (of June, 1848,) with the history of the coup 
d'etat of Louis Napoleon, (December, 1851.) At present the 
garrison amounts to about forty thousand men. 

I need not write to you that Paris is a great, — it is also a 
beautiful and splendid city ; distinctions which it owes, among 
other persons, to Philip Augustus, Henry TV., Louis XIY., 
and Napoleon, the first emperor. It is well paved, well 
lighted, with spacious streets kept, many of them, as clean 
as a palace, and contains a population far exceeding a mil- 
lion, and perhaps exceeding twelve hundred thousand souls. 
And this population is perhaps the most polished on earth. 
It is now hard to conceive that pigs once roamed these streets, 
so that a king (Louis YI.) lost his eldest son by his horse 
stumbling over one of these animals ; that wolves (300 years 
after the reign of this Louis) roamed through them, and 
that even so late as 1600, Henry, Due de Guise, so narrow 



AND THE BRITISH ISLANDS. 27 

were they, amused himself by ascending the houses and jump- 
ing across from one roof to another. And perhaps it is 
harder still to think of the people of this great city, now so 
refined, three hundred, or three hundred and fifty years ago, 
crowding to Notre Dame after a young woman mounted on 
an ass and carrying a child in commemoration of the blessed 
Yirgin's flight into Egypt, while, in the religious services of 
the occasion, instead of the usual responses, the worshiping 
congregation answ^ered by loud and ever-recurring brayings. 
What a contrast between the present and the past ! No city, 
perhaps, excepting Rome, or, it may be, Athens, abounds to 
an equal degree in memorials of great events 

I entered Paris from the northwest ; and it is in the part 
of the city that lies in this direction that the depot of the 
Kouen Railroad, by which road I came, is situated. From 
the depot I ,was immediately driven in a carriage to the 
Place de la Bourse, in the neighbourhood of which, as I 
lately wrote to you, I took up my abode at the hotel known 
as the Sir Walter Scott Hotel. I may mention that the 
dri^e gave me a very favorable impression of Paris, the 
driver going not by a direct route, but circuitously, through 
some of the principal streets, and passing by the triumphal 
column raised by Napoleon, in 1806, in honor of the successes 
of the French armies, and surmounted by a statue of himself. 
In the manufacture of this lofty column, which I saw to be 
hung round the base with innumerabJe fresh garlands, twelve 
hundred pieces of cannon were worked up. The statue on 
the top was destroyed by the victorious allies in 1814, but 
was subsequently replaced. The streets, by this route, to 
the spot where I have settled down at present, cannot easily 
be surpassed for beauty, and some of them for grandeur. 

You would readily infer, if you had been in this part of 
Paris, that the first public building which I have had the 
opportunity of surveying at leisure was the Bourse, or Ex- 
change, from which my hotel is distant only a few doors. 
This edifice is considered by architectural connoisseurs as a 
very fine specimen of architecture. It was begun in 1808, 
during the sway of the great emperor, thougli not finished 
till 1826. I was soon walking, after having engaged my 
room, around the square in which it stands, and could not 
but admire the size, decorations, and proportions of the 
beautiful structure. I used to regard the Philadelphia Ex- 



28 TRAA^ELS IN FRANCE 

change as quite fine, but it falls at an immeasurable distance 
behind that of Paris, as indeed does everything that I recol- 
lect to have seen in the United States, with the exception of 
Girard College, and the Capitol in Washington, — edifices, 
however, that can scarcely be compared with it, on account 
of their lack of architectural decoration. It is surrounded 
by an iron railing, and is in shape a rectangle, being 212 
feet by 126. Inside the railing is a flight of steps, facing the 
principal fa9ade, and extending all around the building. 
When these have been ascended, one reaches a superb colon- 
nade of sixty-four Corinthian columns, extending also around, 
and forming a covered gallery. At the corners of the build- 
ing are four fine statues, representing Commerce, Industry, 
Agriculture, and Navigation. I may add that, instead of 
being lighted by windows, it is lighted from the roof, and 
that it is adorned with a clock which is magnificently illumi- 
nated at night. On certain occasions the crowds assembled 
in the Exchange are very large, so that the gendarmes have 
difficulty in keeping the approaches open; and the amount 
of business transacted is oftentimes very great. 

I do not intend to give in this letter, or in any that I may 
hereafter write, anything like a detailed account of all the 
edifices and places, which I may visit in the French capital, 
and in France; as such an undertaking could not be anything 
else but unentertaining, and even tedious to you. I will, 
however, speak of a few. I have been to see the Palais 
Royal, having been taken thither by a man that I have hired 
to act as my guide ; of which noble pile, the mansion part 
of which is now the residence of Jerome Bonaparte, I will 
here say a word. This palace, including the buildings, gar- 
den, and appurtenances, covers a nearly rectangular lot of 
ground of 1100 feet from north to south, by 400 from east 
to west. The chief entrance is from the Rue (or street) de 
St. Ilonore, on the south, by a splendid gateway and arcade. 
The visitor then enters a court, ornamented with some 
columns supporting a semicircular front, the main building 
being now immediately before him; while on each hand are 
wings extending toward the street. Immediately behind 
the main building is the garden, which is said to be TOO feet 
by 300. It contains flower-beds, a circular basin of water, 
with a fountain, bronze statues, and a solar cannon, (which 
the rays of the sun fire off every day in hot weather at 12 



AND THE BRITISH ISLANDS. 29 

o'clock,) and is planted around with a double row of lime- 
trees. Besides, around it are the most splendid shops in the 
world. Perhaps I ought not altogether to omit mentioning, 
when speaking of this palace and its garden, the spacious 
promenade of 300 feet in length, covered with glass, and 
having rows of shops on each side, — a splendid sight for a 
stranger to gaze on. Few places of modern times have 
more intimate associations with historical persons than this 
palace with its court and gardens. It was built by Cardinal 
Richelieu between 1629 and 1636; was owned by Louis 
XIII. ; Mazarin trod its staircases and courts; Louis XIY. 
was raised in it ; and then it passed to his brother Philip, 
Duke of Orleans, and was owned by him and his descendants 
till the first revolution. During it the Jacobins held their 
first meetings in its garden, and the Montagnards and Gi- 
rondists frequented its coffee-rooms ; the Duke of Orleans 
having, to restore his dilapitated fortune, converted its 
apartments and gardens, at least in part, into a bazaar. 
Then it was confiscated, and turned into a bazaar on a more 
larged scale. Next, during the first empire. Prince Lucien 
Bonaparte occupied its main edifice. And at length, in 
1814, it was restored to Philip, Duke of Orleans, who re- 
paired and improved it. Nor has its celebrity dhninished 
since that time. It was on the square at its south end that 
the severest engagement of the Revolution of 1848 took 
place. Louis Philippe's troops, five or six thousand strong, 
and having the Chateau d'Eau for their stronghold, were 
there, on the 23d of February, attacked (the revolution had 
began on the 22d) by the revolutionists in great force. And 
at length the soldiery were beaten so that they were forced, 
after having lost one-fifth of their number, to flee. No more 
at present. 

Yours truly, M. F. 



2* 



30 TRAVELS IN FRANCE 



NO. lY. 

Streots of Kichelieu niid Kivoli — Obelisk of Luxor (tlio spot of the Guillotine) — Place 
de 111 Concorde — Emperor's Palace — Place de Carrousel, and its connection with the 
French Eevohitions — Palace of the Louvre; its Wonderful Collections of Antiqui- 
ties, Paintings, and Curiosities — Near by, the Old Church of St. Gerniaine rAuxei'- 
rois ; its Belfry on the Night of St. Bartholomew. 

Paris, Jfay, 1855. 

I WRITE this letter to give you some account of the Tuile- 
ries and Louvre, and their surrounding scenery; the former 
the celebrated royal palace, and the latter the celebrated 
depository of the richest productions of art. Here I will 
pause to say that all that I felt sorry for when gazing on 
these grand objects of curiosity, was that I had not my 
friends around me to join with me in inspecting and admiring 
them. 

Let me ask you to proceed in my company down the 
Rue (or street) Richelieu to the Rue de Rivoli, — noble 
streets through which I have already passed several times, — 
and from it let us go to the Obelisk de Luxor, which stands 
right in front of the main fa9ade of the Tuileries ; which 
fa9ade faces the setting sun. On this spot, this column 
consisting of a single huge stone of red granite, of seventy- 
two feet in height, and containing a hieroglyphical inscrip- 
tion dating back to a time contemporary with the events 
related in the first chapter of Exodus, is erected. It was 
brought from Thebes, in Egypt, by Louis Philippe, and 
was subsequently here raised by him in 1836, the cost of rais- 
ing it having been two hundred thousand francs. This stone 
weighs five hundred thousand pounds. Three vertical rows 
of hieroglyphics cover each of its faces; (thus, |}| ;) the 
middle row being cut perhaps nearly six inches deep, and 
the other two rows being scarcely more than very distinctly 
cut into the hard surface. The machinery employed in 
moving it, and that afterwards used in placing it upright, 
were grand efforts of mechanical invention, and the models 
of them, which I have seen, are well worthy of study. But 
what sort of machinery was used by the Egyptians for the 
same purpose three thousand four hundred years ago ? 



AND THE BRITISH ISLANDS. 31 

The Egyptian Obelisk stands in the Place de Concorde, an 
area of about eighty acres in extent. Where it stands was 
a principal place, (the other was the Place de la Greve,) 
where the guillotine did its terrible work in the days of ter- 
ror of the revolution of 1789; and close by the spot, where 
are two beautiful fountains, are the places where the fero- 
cious mob used to sing and shout " Ca Ira," as the severed 
heads successively rolled into the executioner's basket. That 
beautiful spot, on which the traveler lingers to look on 
mingled beauty and magnificence, was wet with the blood, in 
the short time of two years and three months, of two thou- 
sand eight hundred persons of the leading portions of so- 
ciety. There Louis XYL, Queen Maria Antoinette, Eliza- 
beth, the sister of Louis XYL, and the Duke of Orleans 
died ; and there died the leading Girondists ; there, also, 
died Charlotte Corday; and, moreover, Danton, Robespierre 
and his brother, and Conthon, and St. Just, and Dumas. 
What a place for the guillotine ! — directly fronting and in 
sight of the main door of the royal palace ; the bell of the 
clock that is still remaining over which main door having 
been that which tolled the hour of death to those about to die. 
And not only did the guillotine front the Tuileries — it was also 
right in front and in sight of one of the main doors of the 
edifice in which the legislature used to hold, and still holds, 
its sittings ! And what victims were there sacrificed ! Xot 
merely hated loyalty and dangerous political rivalry, as men- 
tioned already, but along with these, soldiers, as Alexander 
Beauharnois, Marshal Luckner, and General Biron ; whole 
families, as that of Malesherbes ; women, as the daughter 
of Elernet, the Princess of Monaco, and the noble Madame 
Lavergne ; and literary men, as the son of Buffon, Florian 
the novelist, and Boucher the poet. Frightful associations, 
to cluster around such a beautiful spot ! — a spot, the pros- 
pect from which is, in some respects, unequaled in any city 
in the world. To the west of it is the Avenue of the Champs 
Elysees, extending more than one thousand two hundred 
fathoms, or about three thousand feet, to the Barriere of 
PEtoiie and the Arc de Triomphe. And on the sides, for 
some way, of this avenue, is the large space — in the shape of 
a triangle with two points cut off — containing the Palace of 
Industry, now the centre of so strong attraction. While such 
is the view looking westward, south are the Bridge de la 



32 . TRAVELS IN FRANCE 

Concorde, and the vast edifice in whicli tlie French legisla- 
ture holds its sittings. Next, to the east are the Tuileries, 
with their western court and their celebrated garden and 
orangery. And again, to the north is situated the celebrated 
Church of the Madeleine. Before leaving the Place de 
Concorde, let me remark that it was here and in the vicinity 
that the armies of the Allies were reviewed in 1814. I would 
also mention that in this splendid area, while I was there, 
some soldiers were warming themselves around a fire which 
they had kindled, and I learned from them that no fire had 
been burned there till that time, from the time the Russians 
had one on the spot, when bivouacking in the streets of 
this city. 

Having viewed the obelisk and looked on surrounding scene- 
ry, we now slowly walk through the garden of the Tuileries, 
with its beautiful statues and fine orangery, till we reach a 
circular basin of water in front of the palace ; the palace be- 
ing separated from the garden by a spacious court, inclosed 
by an iron railing, and set apart to the exclusive use of 
the Emperor and his household. We have now a close and 
complete view of the royal habitation. The effect produced 
on the spectator by the sight of the vast edifice before him 
is unsurpassed. And that you may experience something of 
this effect, I will put you somewhat in his position. There 
is before you a vast pile, — of various heights and of diverse 
styles of architecture, — running nearly north and south from 
the beautiful Street de Rivoli, to a street extending the 
the whole length of the city along the north bank of the 
Seine ; (which river is here about four hundred and fifty feet 
in breadth ;) a corresponding street also reaching the entire 
length of the city on its other or southern bank. Now think 
of this pile being of finished architecture, and one thousand 
and eight feet, or one-fifth of a mile, in length ; that is, the 
length of one hundred and sixty-eight houses, each house 
having sixty feet of front. Nor is the height, nor anything 
about the huge mass, disproportioned to its length. On the 
contrary, the main entrance, the windows, the columns, are 
proportioned to the whole, and the whole to them. And 
here I would remark that I have twice seen the Emperor 
return from excursions, and that at neither time did he enter 
from this side, though here, where is the main front, is, 
of course, the main entrance. Indeed, I was told he seldom 
makes use of the western door of the palace. Perhaps this 



AND THE BRITISH ISLANDS. 33 

is because lie wishes it to be appropriated to grand occa- 
sions, I could not, however, help thinking that he chooses 
to look as seldom as possible to the spot where Louis XVI. 
turned his dying eyes to the Tuileries. I do not mean, by 
this, to say that I think there is any danger of his meeting a 
similar destiny. At all events, history will proclaim him a 
true Frenchman and an able sovereign. 

I now pass out from the space lying before the main or 
western front of the palace, to the street along the Seine, 
named, at this spot," the Quai des Tuileries; and from it I 
at once enter the Place de Carrousel — a parallelogram of 
about (I judge) two hundred fathoms in length and one 
hundred and thirty in width. When here, the visitor finds 
himself opposite the eastern, or, (if I may so speak,) back 
front of the palace. It was on this open space that some of 
the most exciting scenes of the revolutions of 1*789, 1830, 
and 1848 were witnessed; and here I^apoleon reviewed, in 
part, the noblest army the world ever saw, before marching 
it to conquer at Moscow and then perish beneath Russian 
snows. The Place de Carrousel is separated by an iron 
railing from a large court which runs up to the walls of the 
palace. From this court, as we mentioned was the case 
with the corresponding court contiguous to the other front 
of the palace, the public is excluded. About the middle of 
the fence of iron railing is a gate, at which is the triumphal 
arch built by Napoleon in 1806, on which he placed the 
antique horses of St. Marc, from Venice, and on which now 
stands a chariot with four horses in bronze ; the horses of 
St. Marc having been reclaimed in those days of retribution 
which followed the first overthrow of the first empire. It 
struck me, w^hen gazing on and walking about the Tuileries, 
that there is not anything in which the scene is more unlike 
that at the Presidential Mansion in Washington, than in 
the presence of soldiers, horse and foot, as sentinels in the 
former place, while they are absent in the latter. Perhaps 
these circumstances are indicative of the different characters 
of the two governments ; the one resting for support on 
popular consent, (though it must be said, a consent not 
always very honestly obtained,) and the other on military 
force. Yet I do not know that the presence of a well-be- 
haved and civil soldier at the mansion where resides the 
head of a great nation is an unsightly object. 



34 TRAVELS IN PRANCE 

Before closing my account of the Imperial Palace of 
France, I will say a few words as to its history. It dates 
back to 1564, when the middle part of the structure was 
reared by the dissimulating and ruthless Catharine de Medi- 
cis. By Henry I Y. , Louis XIII. , and Louis XIY . , the other 
parts of the edifice were successively added ; while, at the 
same time that they enlarged it, they also decorated and im- 
proved and beautified the surrounding grounds. It was in 
the part which, we have said, was built by herself, that, in 
1572, Catharine de Medicis gave the celebrated fete that pre- 
ceded the terrible massacre of St Bartholomew, when one 
hundred thousand Huguenots perished ; on which occasion, 
in an allegorical representation in which the king (Charles 
IX.) and his courtiers acted a part, they were represented 
as excluding the Huguenot King of Navarre and his friends 
from Paradise, and as, finally, victoriously driving them to 
perdition. Such was the serio-comic masquerade that went 
before one of the most cruel deeds of history. It was the 
tigress sporting with her prey before tearing it to pieces. 

Since, many important occurrences associate themselves 
with the edifice in respect to which I have been writing. 
During two hundred years, all the kings, queens, leading 
statesmen and diplomatists, and great soldiers of France, 
with most of the great men of all civilized lands, ascended 
its staircases, promenaded its saloons, and sat, and stood, 
and conversed in its apartments. Then came the year 1789, 
the beginning of the great revolution. During the progress 
of this event, it was the scene of many stirring transactions. 
It was to it that, in October, 1789, the mob took Louis XYI. 
and Maria Antoinette, after having brought them from Yer- 
sailles to the Hotel de Yille. On June 20, 1792, it was at- 
tacked by thirty thousand of the Sans Culottes ; when, the 
soldiers having shaken the priming from their muskets, the 
gates of the Place de Carrousel were forced, and then the 
doors of the palace ; the mob forcing itself into the royal 
presence, there taking all sorts of low familiarities, and finally 
compelling Louis to put on a red, greasy cap, as the cap of 
liberty. Of the doings of this mob the young Napoleon 
was an indignant spectator, exclaiming to his companion, 
^' What nonsense ! Mow down the first five hundred with 
grape, and the rest would soon take to their heels." Next, 
on the night of August 10, 1792, another mob made its way 



AND THE BRITISH ISLANDS. 35 

to the Tuileries, bringing with it six cannon, which it pointed 
at the main door. On this occasion, the king and the royal 
family had to flee to the hall of the legislature ; while the 
Swiss Guard, deserted by the National Guards, and, along 
with the Swiss, the servants and inmates of the royal abode, 
were coolly and cruelly slaughtered by the multitude. Next, 
on a raw, cold, cloudy day, January 21, 1793, the western 
fa9ade of this palace looked down, at the distance of some- 
thing over one thousand eight hundred feet, on long lines of 
the people of Paris, drawn up in imitation of regular sol- 
diery, with muskets, and pikes, and halberts, — perhaps one 
hundred thousand men crowding the street ; while a hack-car- 
riage, guarded by numerous armed men, slowly approached. 
This carriage was accompanied by the deafening noise of 
sixty drums beating. And then, after a silent pause, and a 
brief interval of martial music so loud as to stun, the King 
of France was a headless trunk. Next, a little more than 
a year after this, in the summer of 1*794, the same face of 
the Tuileries looked down on another spectacle of a different 
character. In their garden was assembled a vast multitude, 
and in the midst of this concourse were three statues, repre- 
sentative of Atheism, Discord, and Selfishness. To these 
representative statues Robespierre, the Jacobin chief, might 
be seen approaching with a lighted torch, when they became 
a sheet of fire ; and another representative statue, that of 
Wisdom, rose in their stead, begrimed with smoke and dust. 
Such was the show that was supposed to re-inaugurate reli- 
gion in France. Next, a little later in the same year, July 28, 
1794, at four in the evening, this same Jacobin leader, con- 
quered and helpless, might be seen a little beyond the gar- 
den, where the mummery of the statues had been acted. 
Along with him are twenty-two of his accomplices. A wild 
populace, groaning, hissing, and rejoicing, stand around. And 
then the guillotine does its work. Next, October 5, 1795, we 
find a man very different from Robespierre in the garden of 
the Tuileries, — Napoleon Bonaparte. The National Legis- 
lature is sitting in the palace of the old kings, and the Sec- 
tions or Wards of the capital have declared war against it. 
On the first day the Wards are the victors. Then at night. 
Napoleon is commissioned to fight for the representatives of 
the nation, with five thousand men under bis command, 
while the Wards have forty thousand. The danger is im- 



36 TRAVELS IN FRANCE 

minent. But he procures from Sablons, five railes off, fifty 
heavy guns. Also, he hands muskets and cartridges through 
the windows to the members of the legislative body. After 
a time, the regular tramp of heavy masses of disciplined 
men is heard approaching. Rue de St. Honore, a broad 
street running east and west, a little to the north of the 
Tuileries, is crowded. Other streets are crowded. The 
bridges over the Seine are threatened by powerful detach- 
ments. Bonaparte's men can even hear the word of com- 
mand given from their assailants — '' Charge !" Then he 
says " Fire !" and St. Honore is swept with discharges of 
grape, rapid and repeated. Meanwhile, a bridge over the 
Seine is carried, and the insurgents are rushing along the 
graveled walks of the palace garden, on the legislature, 
anxiously sitting iti its hall in the Tuileries. But three dis- 
charges of grape from the heavy guns, right in their teeth, 
scatter them like grass before the scythe. Thus was the 
Parisian mob brought to succumb. Next, something like 
five years after this, the conqueror of the Wards of Paris, 
now, also, the conqueror of Italy and Egypt, enters the 
Tuileries, in the capacity of First Consul, to make them 
his residence. And then, having occupied them fourteen 
years, as Consul and Emperor, he gives way to the race of 
the old kings, which again occupies the old mansion of its 
family. Then the great soldier returns from Elba, and, by the 
bridge of Concorde, the quay of the Tuileries, and the arch- 
way of the Louvre, again enters the vacant palace. And 
then, after the hundred days' reign is over, the Bourbons 
again take possession of it. 

Since the time of the second restoration, the Tuileries 
have witnessed important events. In the revolution of July, 
1830, when Charles X. was overthrown, it was in the Place 
de Carrousel, aback of them, that the soldiers of Marmont 
made their last rally in favor of the tottering throne, before 
their retreat to St. Cloud. And, in February, 1848, when 
Louis Philippe fell, before surrendering, they were the scene 
of a fierce fight. They are now occupied by the court of 
Louis Napoleon. 

Now that we have done with the Tuileries, the Palace of 
the Louvre will claim attention. It is just east of them, and 
is in process of being connected with them ; and, like them, 
is separated from the Seine merely by a broad street. The 



AND THE BRITISH ISLANDS. 3t 

present edifice was begun in 1528, and was not fully com- 
pleted till the reign of the first emperor. It is in the shape 
of a hollow square, forming a quadrangle of four hundred feet 
by five hundred. Its main front is 525 feet, or about one- 
half that of the Imperial Palace ; the chief entrance, which 
of course is in this front, and which is furnished with ornate 
bronze folding-doors, being from the east, and thus being the 
reverse of that of the Tuileries, whose main door, as I said 
above, opens to the west. Two of its fronts are compara- 
tively plain ; but that toward the river, and especially that 
toward the east, are exceedingly imposing. Indeed, I do 
not know whether there is anything equal in grandeur to 
the colonnade of the Louvre, consisting of twenty-eight Co- 
rinthian columns standing above the basement story, and 
with a wide gallery behind them ; the entire front to which 
this colonnade belongs being in harmony with it. 

The Louvre was originally erected for a royal palace. 
While it still retained this character it was the residence of 
Henry III., of Henry TV., of Louis XIIL, of Henriette of 
England, (widow of Charles I.,) and of Louis XY. during 
his minority. Since this time it has been used as a museum. 
The riches of its treasures as such, can scarcely be imagined. 
It contains immense collections of the most curious objects 
of all ages and countries, and especially of France, Italy, 
Greece, Turkey in Asia, and Egypt. To mention a few par- 
ticulars : here you see, of white marble, an ancient statue from 
Egypt, of Rameses II., a king belonging to the nineteenth 
dynasty of Egyptian kings ; and I could not help observing 
that the Caucasian face which it displays goes a a good way 
to refute the theory which has been supported, that the an- 
cient Egyptians were not of the v/hite race. Yet I am aware 
that much may be said on both sides, and that the monarch 
and the inferior masses may have been of diverse lineages. 
The magnificent sarcophagus of Rameses lY., brought from 
the catacombs of Beban-el-Moulouk, is here, as is a monolith 
chapel of rose-granite, dedicated by the celebrated Amasis 
to the Egyptian Minerva, with other articles, from Egypt, of 
an age almost equally hoary. Here are marble baths, three 
in number, such as were used by the ancients. Here are 
two sarcophagi from Salonica, whose elaborate sculpturing 
shows them to have inclosed persons of quality. Here is a 
variety of articles dug out of the buried cities of Hercula- 

3 



38 TRAVELS IN FRANCE 

neum and Pompeii. And here the scholar may summon up 
his scholarsliip to gratify his curiosity in the interpretation 
of many original inscriptions in hieroglyphics, in Greek, and 
in Latin, dating back to the most remote antiquity. Here, 
to come to more modern curiosities, you see Charlemagne's 
sword, sceptre, and belt, tiere the visitor sees likenesses of 
Henry lY., Louis XIY., and Francis II., clothed in the 
armor which they actually wore in life. Here is a shoe of 
the unhappy Maria Antoinette, and here is her secretary. 
Here, in what is called Napoleon's room, you see his bridle, 
his saddle, his sword, his camp-bed, his hat, several of his 
coats, and with these his gray overcoat. Here you are per- 
mitted to inspect those simple and unpretending mathemati- 
cal instruments which he carried with him in his campaigns. 
Here you see an old hat which he wore in St. Helena, and 
a poor dilapidated thing it would be on the head of a hum- 
ble mechanic ; and, along with it, an old pocket-handkerchief, 
which he carried in the same place of abode. Here, also, 
are his little son's clothes, made of plain whitish flannel, be- 
ing, as to their material, anything but what we would ex- 
pect to see on a child who was at once the son of an empe- 
ror of France, and the descendant of the proud house of 
Hapsburg. Besides, here is the little bed of the same child ; 
which bed became likewise that of the Due de Bordeaux, the 
posthumous son of the Due de Berry — that boy in behalf 
of whose succession to the throne Charles X., when abdi- 
cating, stipulated. Moreover, here is exposed to the visitors' 
view the secretary of the late Louis Philippe, broken by the 
fury of the populace when it overthrew his throne and dynas- 
ty. I would also observe that, under glass cases in one of 
the rooms, are models of the city of Brest, L'Orient, and 
other French cities. 

The chief things, however, which distinguish the Louvre, 
are the collection of paintings and statuary. The collections 
of these are of the noblest description. As I walked through 
them I was filled with admiration. No one could imagine, 
without looking on it, such a vast assemblage of master-pieces 
of painting. Gallery after gallery filled ; and one work of 
capital excellence after another ; with a number of ladies, — 
the beautiful, dark-complexioned Italian, the equally dark and 
equally beautiful Spaniard, and the brunette French woman, — 
all engaged in copying one or another of the various master- 



AND THE BRITISH ISLANDS. 39 

pieces that adorn tlie walls. The very vastness of these col- 
lections deters me from attempting a description in detail. 

I will conclude this letter by saying that immediately in 
front of the main entrance of the Louvre stands the very an- 
cient church of Saint Germain I'Auxerrois. This church 
was built by ChHderic in the year 580, and it was rebuilt by 
one of the Capets in 990, It is divided into five naves with 
several chapels. It is distinguished for a fine porch, a mag- 
nificent choir, paintings by the first masters, and windows 
with stained glass, of altogether unequaled splendor. This 
church was long the parish church of what was, in bygone 
days, the royal parish ; after which parish the French court 
was formerly called the court of St. Germain. When the 
visitor looks up to its belfry, he cannot help the rushing up 
of the recollection that it was from it went forth the terrible 
peal, on the night of Bartholomew's Day, 15T2, that, respond- 
ing to the tocsin or great bell of the Louvre, (at that time 
the king's palace,) gave the signal for the death of the great 
multitude, of which we spoke above, of the most God-fearing 
and righteousness-loving citizens of France, 

I remain, &c., M. F. 

P. S. — I would mention, in connection with what I have 
said of the Tuileries in this letter, a circumstance, which I 
am altogether unwilling to pass by, that occurred to me there 
on the morning after my arrival in this city. The man whom 
I hired to guide me around requested me to go with him 
after breakfast to take a view of that palace ; and, while we 
were standing in the Place de Carrousel, a person in the or- 
dinary dress of a citizen came to us, and directed us to go to 
the palace door. We did so, when a gentleman came down 
and stood in the door, who was pointed out to us as fbe 
general of the imperial guard, General Yaillant. Such an 
attention as this is, I assure you, not very common in Paris. 
Indeed, to be thus noticed by him, who, after the emperor, 
is perhaps the proudest man in France, is certainly an atten- 
tion of the most honorable character. But, perhaps, it was 
not meant for me, but for an honest man who has long since 
turned to dust, — a man who loved his native land well, but 
not wisely, (at least for himself) I suppose I ought not to 
omit altogether the mention of this matter ; and, noticing it at 
all, I choose to make the mention in this place, though I 
am aware that my doing this involves a slight anachronism. 



40 TRAVELS IN FRANCE 



NO. Y. 

% 

The I'Eysee-BoTirbon — Emperor's PaTJlion — The LuxemhoTirsc— Tlie Senate Chamber 
— Hotel de Petit — Ney shot close by — French Legislative Hall — Imperial Library — 
Hannibal's Shield — One of the First Books Printed — Coin of Romulvis, &c. 

Paris, Mai/, 1855. 

I PURPOSE in this letter to introduce yoa to some acquaint- 
ance with the Palace PElysee-Bourbon, with that of the 
Luxembourg, and also with its adjoining edifice, the Hotel du 
Petit, with that of the National Assembly, and with the Im- 
perial Library. 

The palace of the Elysee-Bourbon is situated on the street 
called the Faubourg St. Honore, or the out part of the 
Street St. Honore ; being quite close to the mansion of the 
English Ambassador. Its garden lies opposite the Palace 
of Industry ; on the other side, from it, of the Champs 
Elysees. Its garden is separated from one of the two lateral 
walks of this street only by an iron railing. Though I was 
not in the palace itself, which is by no means a magnificent 
edifice, I was in this garden. And, with its flowers and deco- 
rations, it must be pronounced most superb. At the time I 
was in it there stood in it a temporary circular pavilion, ex- 
ceedingly magnificent, with the letter N., (for Napoleon,) 
conspicuously marked on its canvas, and with a sentinel 
guarding it from intrusion. I, with my companion, went up 
to this pavilion, when he at once leaped in with his dusty 
boots, inviting me to come in too, the sentinel only laugh- 
ing. I, however, declined this familiarity. As to the palace 
itself, it is of much smaller dimensions than most of the other 
Parisian palaces. It has been inhabited by many celebrated 
personages ; — by the Marchioness d'Pompadour, (the pow- 
erful mistress of Louis XY.,) and by the Duchess de Bour- 
bon; then, in the great revolution, it became a printing- 
ofi&ce ; then Murat lived in it; then it witnessed the presence 
of the Emperor of Russia after the first occupation of Paris; 
next Napoleon I. made it his abode, having signed in it his 
second abdication ; and subsequent to this it was occcupied 
by the Duke of Wellington, after Waterloo ; by the Duke de 



AND THE BRITISH ISLANDS. 41 

Berry, who fell by the hand of an assassin in 1820, by Don 
Pedro, and at length by Lonis Napoleon, the present Empe- 
ror, while president of the late republic. 

The palace of the Luxembourg stands in a distant part of 
Paris from that palace of which we have been speaking, and 
on the other side of the Seine from it. The palace of which 
we have been speaking stands toward the west of the main 
body of the city, while the Luxembourg lies near its extreme 
southern edge. This palace, which was built for Mary of 
Medicis, widow of Henry lY., was completed in 1620. It 
has been occupied by many historical characters : by the 
Duchess de Montpensier, better known as Mademoiselle de 
Montpensier, who, in the war of the Fronde, was an influen- 
tial and bold enemy of the court party; by the Dachess de 
Guise; by the Duchess of Brunswick; by Mademoiselle Or- 
leans ; and by Monsieur and Madame, (the former the bro- 
ther of Louis XYI.,) who thence, in the days of .terror, es- 
caped to Brussels. Subsequently to this escape, it was con- 
verted into a prison. Afterwards it was the place of meet- 
ing of the Five Directors, and then of the Three Consuls. 
Then Napoleon leaving, in 1*789, the Rue Chantereine, (from 
him named Rue Yictoire,) took up his residence here as First 
Consul, continuing to occupy it till 1800, when he went to 
the Tuileries. Afterwards, it came to be the place of assem- 
bling of the Senate, and after a time, of the Chamber of 
Peers. It is a majestic and regular square. It has two 
main fronts, one toward the north, and facing the end of the 
Rue de Tournon which opens directly north from it to the 
Seine, and the other facing the spacious ornamented grounds 
called the Luxembourg Garden, southward. Its external 
appearance toward the Rue de Tournon is that of a ma- 
jestic edifice of three very loCty stories in height ; there be- 
ing in the centre an elevation called technically a pavilion, 
this being surmounted by a cupola ; and there being at the 
extremities, two such elevations connected with the central 
portion of the building by wings, or less elevated parts of the 
roof. The gallery of paintings in this palace is adorned 
with the productions of the first living masters. There are 
also some other things in it which have considerable interest 
attached to them. There is the throne of Louis Napoleon. 
Then there is the bed-room of Catharine de Medicis, (the 
daughter of Lorenzo de Medicis, Duke of Urbino,) a Queen 



42 TRAVELS IN FRANCE 

of France, and the mother of three French kings. It is in 
the same condition in which its powerful but unrighteous 
occupant left it, more than 260 years ago ; plainly and sim- 
ply furnished, yet leaving a grand impression on the mind of 
the visitor. But what interested me most was the Senate 
Chamber, or, as otherwise known, the House of Peers ; a 
room in which some of the finest minds of France and of the 
world have displayed their intellectual wealth on questions 
of the greatest moment to the welfare of nations. It is 
about the size of a not large country church in the United 
States. The seats are without desks, (as should always be 
the case,) and rise in a semicircle, one above another, around 
the president's seat, which rises from the original level of 
the room. Above this level, a second floor, in successive 
ascending benches, amphitheatre-like, rises ; or in other 
words, the ascent of this floor. Instead of being gradual, is 
like the steps in stairs. While here, a noble-looking old gen- 
tleman stood close beside me for a considerable time, and upon 
whom I could not help looking intently, and with reverence, 
so far as politeness would permit. This gentleman, I was in- 
formed, was ex- Senator Re very, (though I ought to say I do 
not know whether I spell the word properly.) This chamber 
is still in the same condition in every respect as when last oc- 
cupied by the Peers of France. It is by no means so richly 
decorated as the Senate Chamber in Washington. 

Close by the garden of the Luxembourg Palace, stands a 
more unpretending edifice, which I cannot pass by without 
some notice, the Hotel de Petit ; which edifice was built by 
Cardinal Richelieu for his mother, and which was afterwards 
owned by the Prince de Conde. Since his day, the histori- 
cal associations connected with it are numerous. In the 
days of the old Republic, the^ Directory made considerable 
use of it, here having received General Bonaparte after his 
return from Egypt ; also, Bonaparte used it much at the 
commencement of his Consulship ; also, Ney was confined 
here after the second return of the Bourbons, having been 
shot in the adjoining garden ; and here were Polignac and 
his assooiates confined after their overthrow and before their 
trial. To Ney a most admirably executed statue has been 
erected in this vicinity in the street. He is on foot, with 
sword drawn, and from his open mouth the word of com- 
naand to charge is ^issuing; a fac-simile of what he was 



AND THE BRITISH ISLANDS. 43 

when leading on the Guard in its last terrible effort to re- 
trieve Waterloo. 

I will now say a few words in relation to the Palace of the 
National Assembly; the edifice in which the Legislature meets. 
This edifice stands on the southern bank of the Seine, being 
separated from the river only by the width of a street, and 
being opposite to the Bridge de la Concorde. On the 
northern bank of the Seine, opposite, is the celebrated 
Egyptian Obelisk, and a little to the east are the garden of 
the Tuileries and the Emperor's palace. At the present 
time the Legislature is not in session. The legislative palace 
is an immense block of buildings, approximating in shape 
to a square, and having two fronts, one facing that street 
along the river called the Quai d'0r9ay, and the other on 
the street named University Street. UT these two fronts, 
that on the Rue de PUniversite is the more imposing and 
the chief, though the other is the more pleasing to me. The 
river front of the edifice rises above an ascent made by a long 
and broad flight of steps. It is ornamented by a colonnade 
of Corinthian columns ; and before it stand four colossal 
statutes of four eminent Erenchmen, — Sully, Colbert, I'Hos- 
pital, and d'Aguesseau, — while statues of Wisdom and 
Justice stand at the entrance. Such is a part of what this 
front exhibits. The entrance from University Street is a 
a lofty gateway, having a line of grand columns on each 
side ; each of these lines of columns having a pavilion at 
that extremity of it away from the gateway. Then there is 
a spacious court ; and from this leads the entrance to the 
vast room called the hall of session, — a room semicircular in 
shape, and which is capable of accommodating seven hundred 
and fifty members with seats. The presiding officer's chair 
is in the centre of the diameter that makes the hall a semi- 
circle. The speakers, when in the act of addressing the 
house, do not stand at their seats, but occupy a tribune in 
front of the presiding officer. As to the members, each 
one has a desk, each such desk forming the back of the seat 
before it ; while as to the seats, the successive rows of 
these rise, one above another, as in an ampitheatre — an ar- 
rangement resembling what prevails, as I before remarked, 
.in the Chamber of Peers. I would add that the strangers' 
gallery is ample, being said to be capable of accommodating 
between six and seven hundred persons. This palace is about 



44 TRAVELS IN FRANCE 

one hundred and thirty years old. It was at first private 
property. In 1795 it became the seat of the Council of 
Five Hundred. Subsequently, it came, in the time of Napo- 
leon I., to be occupied by the Corps Legislatif. Then it be- 
came the place of assembly of the Chamber of Deputies, 
and now it is occupied by the legislative body of the new 
empire. 

I now proceed to give some account of my visit to the 
Imperial Library, or, as it was formerly denominated, the 
National Library. The edifice in which it is contained is 
in the Rue de Richelieu, and, north of the Palais Royal. 
It is a plain but large and convenient building. It contains, 
— as well as its literary treasures, — some very curious an- 
tiquities. Of these I would mention the shield of Hannibal 
the Carthagenian,''(a trophy of ancient Rome,) the brass 
chair or throne on which King Dagobert sat more than one 
thousand two hundred years ago, and the armor of Francis 
I. These, however, are but small things when compared 
with its other treasures. 

It contains the immense number of eight hundred thou- 
sand printed works ; and if the double copies be inchided, 
one million two hundred thousand. It contains eighty thou-, 
sand manuscripts, in a variety of languages, four hundred 
thousand medallions, one million engravings, three hundred 
thousand maps, one hundred thousand medals of gold, sil- 
ver, and bronze, (all of these of great value,) and many 
thousands of precious antique gems. Such is an approxi- 
mation to the amount of the treasures of this vast literary 
depository. 

One thing in it that, among others, attracted my notice, 
was a Bible printed by Jean Guttemberg, at Mayence, be- 
tween 1450 and 1455. Guttemberg, I need scarcely say, 
was the inventor of typographical printing. He, about 1438, 
it is known, printed at Strasburg with movable types of 
wood. Between 1443 and 1445, he returned to his native 
city of Mentz. In 1450 he entered into partnership in said 
city with John Faust, a wealthy goldsmith, to carry on the 
business of printing; and, between this and 1455, the Bible 
of which I am speaking was printed. It contains neither the 
name of the printer nor the year in which it was printed, — a 
circumstance characteristic, (as some say, though perhaps the 
statement ought to be somewhat modified,) of all the books 



AND THE BRITISH ISLANDS. 45 

which Guttemberg gave to the public. The typography, 
even when compared with the best modern typography, I 
regard as good. Another work, which I also closely in- 
spected, was the Psalter, printed in 1457, by John Faust, 
(spoken of above,) in connection with Peter Schoefifer. Faust 
had dissolved the partnership between him and Guttemberg, 
and had gone into partnership with Schoeffer ; and these 
two, (or one of them, Schoeffer,) were the inventors of cast 
metallic types. In this edition of the Psalter the printing 
is characterized by a high degree of excellence. 

I also felt deeply interested in the vast collection of coins 
which has been here made. These are under glass sashes, and 
a guard stands by to observe that no one improperly touches 
them. In this collection I particularly noticed a coin of 
Romulus; this coin thus dating back to about 150 B.C. 
Some hypercritical moderns have even questioned the ex- 
istence of such a personage as Romulus, and others affirm 
that there was no coinage at Rome before Servius Tullius. 
But the old Italian States had a coinage from the earliest 
times, and the founder of Rome, in casting money, would only 
have been doing what he saw done by his neighbors. Besides, 
Pliny affirms that it was coined from the very commencement 
of the city. What may have been the particular history of 
the piece of money that we saw labelled as belonging to 
the reign of Romulus, I do not pretend to say. Perhaps 
it may have been taken out of some old sepulchre where it 
had been put to pay fare, for some long-forgotten shade, 
over the River Styx. At all events, I presume the per- 
sons who deposited it where I saw it, were qualified to in- 
vestigate its claims to antiquity. I also noticed a coin 
of Darius Hystaspis, going back to about 500 B.C. ; one 
of Xerxes, 4t0 B.C. ; coins of Athens, Egina, Achaia, and 
Bccotia ; a coin, or coins, of Pompey the Great, of Julius 
Caesar, of Tiberius, (in whose reign the Saviour was cruci- 
fied,) of Theodosius I., of Justinian, of Attalus, and of Mo- 
hammed 11. It is asserted by those learned in the science of 
numismatics, that the number of coins, and of medals, ex- 
tant from ancient times, does not very greatly exceed seventy 
thousand ; these having been mainly recovered from tombs 
and from such other places as they may have been stored in, 
in long by-gone days, by fear, avarice, or superstition. Now, 
if such be about the sum-total of all the antique medals, and 



46 TRAVELS IN FRANCE 

coins, extant, and if, as we are informed was the case, Pel- 
lerin added to the Parisian cabinet thirty-three thousand 
pieces of this recovered wealth of antiquity, then the col- 
lection in this place contains no small part of all the ancient 
numismatic riches now in the world. 

I will conclude my account of my visit to the Imperial 
Library, and, at the same time, conclude my letter, by a few 
words in relation to an object that long attracted a great 
deal of attention from the learned. I speak of the Zodiac of 
Denderah, which is here to be seen. This antique work, 
which was brought to Paris in the begiuning of 1822, is in 
the gallery of ancient sculpture in that edifice, that I have 
just been writing about. It happened that this monument of 
antiquity was about the first thing that my guide led me to 
inspect on entering the part of the building in which, over- 
head, it has been put up. 

It was found during the occupation of Egypt by Bona- 
parte, in a temple of Isis, standing amid the ruins of the 
ancient Tentyra, one and a half miles from the village of 
Denderah. The temple in which it was discovered is de- 
scribed as still magnificent, though an abused ruin for per- 
haps one thousand four hundred years ; being two hundred 
and twenty feet in length by fifty in width, with a portico 
supported by twenty-four columns, and being of perfectly 
pure Egyptian architecture, such as characterized the days 
of the native kings. Indeed, four zodiacs were found, two 
at Esne, the ancient Latopolis, and two near Denderah ; 
both towns being places of Theba'is or Upper Egypt. The 
one in the Imperial Library, which was the most perfect, 
is, however, from Denderah, being the larger of the two 
discovered near that place. For it the government gave 
one hundred and fifty thousand francs. It is pictured on 
the surface of a huge block of sandstone, which was origin- 
ally twelve feet long, eight wide, and three thick, but which, 
in the cutting out, was reduced to about nine by five, the 
same figures being employed to represent the constellations 
as are now used to signify them. In it the lion leads the 
zodiacal figures, which follow him in a spiral track, the 
lion being placed after the point of intersection of the eclip- 
tic and the equator. 

It was first discovered by General Desaix. Denon, who 
accompanied the Egyptian expedition, in the plates of his 



AND THE BRITISH ISLANDS. 4Y 

great work on Egypt, first gave the figures on it to the in- 
spection and study of Europe, Starting from the assump- 
tion that when put up it represented the actual state of 
the heavens, the most extravagant notions of its antiquity 
were supported by mathematical calculations that proceed 
from this basis. Some philosophers would have it fifteen 
thousand years of age, some seven thousand, and others 
four thousand six hundred before the year of our Lord, or 
six hundred before the epoch of the creation of the Bible. 
At length, as has been already mentioned, it was brought to 
France, and upon this the disputes relative to the epoch of 
its fabrication were renewed with fresh ardor. All the old 
arguments in favor of its supposed great antiquity were 
reconstructed, confirmed, and illustrated. On the other 
hand, it was argued that Champollion, just before its re- 
moval, had deciphered from the inscription on the temple 
containiug it, the Greek word for emperor, and the sur- 
names of Tiberius, Claudius, Nero, and Domitian. And 
again, it was argued, that it was not an astronomical zo- 
diac but one connected with astrology, the figures being 
what adepts in that science call themes of nativity. One 
thing is certain, that of the wonders and antiquities of hoary 
Egypt it is one of the greatest. 

I remain, &c., , M. F. 



NO. YL 



Drive from Place de Bourse to Industrial Palace — General of the Imperial Guard and 
Guard — Artesian Well of Grenelle — Return to the Industrial Palace — Emperor and 
Empress — Cortege, Civil and Military — Visit, on next day, to Interior of Palace — 
Rain. 

Paris, May, 1855. 
I PURPOSE to give you in this epistle some account of an 
out-of-door view of the opening of the Palace of Industry 
on yesterday ; prefacing my account of this grand display by 
telling you of my going to see the Artesian well of Grenelle 
on the morning of said day, and appending a few remarks 



48 TRAVELS IN FRANCE 

in relation to a visit to the interior of the palace on the day 
following. 

The morning of Tuesday, the 15th inst., ushered in, with 
respect to me as to thousands of others in Paris, a day of 
bright expectation, as on it the grand ceremony of inaugu- 
rating the huge and splendid palace of glass in the Champs 
Elysees was to be performed by the Emperor in person. Of 
him I had not yet had any very satisfactory sight, and I 
was very desirous of having a near view of the man who is 
the representative of the great Napoleon and the head of 
the French people. I also wished to see the other mem- 
bers of the Bonaparte family. And the day itself, though 
rainy till about ten o'clock, became one not of pleasant sun- 
shine exactly, yet sufficiently warm and agreeable. 

Shortly after breakfast I, with my companion, went around 
to the Place de la Bourse, — my hotel being a few doors from 
it in the Rue Joquelet, as I believe I told you before, — 
where, entering a carriage, we directed the driver to drive 
first to the Industrial Palace and thence to the place where 
the Artesian well is situated. However, when we reached 
the Palace, and we had looked about for awhile, a gen- 
darme came to our carriage and requested us, or, I should 
rather say, directed us (for the officers of the French gov- 
ernment do not so much request as order) to pass across a 
certain one of the bridges over the Seine, and, by a particu- 
lar line of street, to the place of our destination. I accord- 
ingly proceeded as directed, when there met us the General 
of the Imperial Guard, whom I had before met at the door 
of the Tuileries, in a carriage drawn by two horses ; several 
regiments of the Imperial Guard, horse and foot ; also the 
members of the French Legislature in carriages ; and then 
several regiments of the line, horse and foot. I had, some 
time before, seen a park of twenty pieces of artillery trot- 
ting out of the city to practise, as I was told. The whole 
display, I need hardly say, was remarkably grand. I con- 
ceive that no finer body of soldiery has ever existed than the 
present French Imperial Guard. The fact is, I would at 
any time go a hundred miles to see it. The size, the shape, 
the drill of the soldiers, — everything about them is nearly 
perfect ; and the appearance of their general is at once 
prepossessing and exceedingly soldier-like. 

The Artesian well of Grenelle is situated in the south- 



AND THE BRITISH ISLANDS. 49 

west part of Paris, not far from the Champ de Mars. Its 
entire depth from the surface is 541 metres, or 1195 English 
feet ; and it throws the water up, above the ground, 30 me- 
tres, or something more than 98 feet. The tube in which 
the fluid ascends, goes up to the latter height nearly, when 
it makes a bend and comes directly down. There is, at two 
or three feet above the ground, a stop-cock by which the 
water may be drawn off at pleasure ; otherwise it flows 
away by concealed passages. At the stop-cock the water is 
more than warm enough for a hot-bath, being 85° of Fahren- 
heit, or 9° hotter than summer heat ; and this though it has 
come up 1*795 feet, and in addition to this has traveled, 
through a tube exposed to the air, 98 feet, in ascending, 
and as many also in descending, by which long and circuit- 
ous journey it must have lost much of its heat; this, there- 
fore, must be very great at the bottom of the well. When it 
comes out it is commingled with a gas which, in thirty-six 
hours, gives an amber color to glass immersed in the water ; 
which water, I may remark, is pleasant to drink. The quan- 
tity which is emitted is 660 gallons in a minute. This well 
was begun on the 24th of December, 1833, and was seven 
years one month and twenty-six days in being sunk. The 
diameter of the orifice of the well, I learned, is 19 J English 
inches, and of the bottom t inches and a fraction. Wells of 
this sort have been sunk in the ancient province of Artois 
since the beginning of the twelfth century ; but none equal 
in depth to this had ever been bored. When, at Toulouse, 
boring had been carried to the depth of 1260 feet without 
finding water, the work was abandoned ; but here, though 
no sign of it was found when this depth had been reached, 
yet M. Mulot, the engineer employed, persevered, carrying 
the work, in spite of several times losing the augur, to its 
present great depth. The whole inside of the bore is lined 
with strong galvanized iron, (that is, iron dipped into melted 
zinc and then into tin to prevent its oxydation.) This well 
was sunk with the view of procuring water for the purifying 
of the slaughter-houses in this part of the city, but, owing 
to the warmth of the water, the purpose has not been an- 
swered. 

Having thus satisfied my curiosity at Grenelle, I proceeded 
to the vicinity of the Palace of Industry ; in going thither, 
as I had an abundance of time, driving past many celebrated 

4 



60 TRAVELS IN FRANCE 

places and buildings, several of which I had already seen : to 
particularize some of these, I may name the Sorbonne, the 
Institute of France, the Clinic College, and the Medical 
College just on the opposite side of the street. At length, 
reaching the desired place, I took my station on a spot ex- 
ceedingly favorable for a sight of the cortege and of each 
individual in it. I stood, with the person who acted as my 
companion and guide, on an elevated place, and close by the 
line of march of the procession ; and here, elevating myself 
still more on a rash-bottomed chair which I hired for a few 
coppers, I was as well fixed for a view of the splendid dis- 
play as I could wish. Looking in th.e one direction, before 
my eyes were the main front of the Tuileries, their garden 
and orangery ; then marble basins of water with their 
magnificent jets in full play ; then the magnificent Place de 
Concorde with the hoary Obelisk of Luxor ; and then the 
Champs Elysees, always, and in all weathers, kept as clean as 
a palace. Turning in the other way, spread out before my 
sight, were the new palace of glass for the universal exhibi- 
tion of industry and of the fine arts, — now about to be opened, 
— surmounted by France, in white marble, holding out two 
crowns which she proposes to the most deserving of all na- 
tions ; meanwhile, the tricolor, in conjunction with the flags 
of allied powers, floating from the loftiest pinnacle of the 
crystal fabric ; and then in front of this newly constructed 
building the noble Avenue of the Champs Elysees extending 
in a straight line down to the Arch of Triumph, and stretch- 
ing out beyond this to Neuilly, which is four miles from the 
Place de Concorde above spoken of, — where the Champs 
Elysees takes its beginning. Nor did I stand long on the 
spot to which I had been led, (it being now about a quar- 
ter past twelve o'clock,) till the troops began to arrive in 
large bodies in the Avenue ; (on a lofty bank by the side 
of which I was standing;) also at the same time occupy- 
ing in great force the garden of the Tuileries and the 
Place de la Concorde. No soldiery could be conceived 
to make a finer appearance than did the several bodies of 
the infantry of the Imperial Guard, and also of the infantry 
of the line, as, fourteen or sixteen deep, they raarclied 
by in columns headed by parties of sappers with their glit- 
tering axes. Immediately after having thus marched past, 
a portion of the troops took up their station in two lines 



AND THE BRITISH ISLANDS. 61 

reaching from the royal palace to the exhibiton palace; 
great numbers of persons being collected along these lines, 
and on any points from which a view of the procession could 
be obtained. At about ten minutes to one a cannon shot 
announced that the Emperor and Empress were about leav- 
ing their splendid mansion; and, looking in the direction 
from which the report came, I saw, over the roofs of the 
houses, the smoke of the gun curling above the Hotel des 
Invalides, — from which edifice shot after shot now continued 
slowly to boom. 

After the firing of this cannon shot, (only a few minutes 
after,) the Imperial cortege set out. It was opened by a 
squadron of cuirassiers of the Imperial Guard, headed by 
their fine band ; then came three State carriages, and two, fol- 
lowed by two others drawn by six horses, bearing the ladies 
and officers of the Imperial Court — the former in magnificent 
toilettes, the latter in court dresses or uniform ; next came 
the Princess Mathilde in a carriage drawn by six horses, and 
then came the Emperor and Empress in a splendid carriage 
richly gilt, fitted up with white silk, and tastefully orna- 
mented, it being drawn by eight horses, the first six of which 
were led by grooms in the Imperial livery : moreover, imme- 
diately preceding the Imperial carriage was a number of out- 
riders and equeries, the latter in uniforms of 'green and gold ; 
and immediately following it were the Cent-Guards, whose 
brilliant uniforms excited great admiration ; the procession 
being closed by another squadron of cuirassiers. As the 
cortege passed on, the troops presented arms, the drums 
beat, and the bands of the different regiments, enlivening the 
cavalcade with music powerful and sweet enough to make Ju- 
piter and all his gods, — superior and inferior, — dance, played 
" Partant pour la Syrie." After no very long time, the Em- 
peror, and his magnificent cortege, civil and military, re- 
turned to the Imperial mansion, (a good deal after the man- 
ner in which they had come from it,) to partake of a banquet 
prepared for numerous invited guests, — one of the main 
differences, between the going and the returning being that 
in the latter case the cortege was increased by the presence 
of the foreign ambassadors in their carriages, of the great 
officers of State and ministers in carriages, and of the mem- 
bers of the French Legislature also in carriages. Also, in 
the returning, Prince Jerome, (now quite an old man,) and 



52 TRAVELS IN FRANCE 

his son Prince Napoleon, (the latter the president of the ex- 
hibition committee,) appeared conspicuous. Also, in the 
returning, the General of the Imperial Guard, who was ac- 
companied by several colonels, appeared likewise very con- 
spicuous ; as, indeed, he did at both times. I would remark 
that, as the cortege passed in its returning, the double lines 
of soldiers along the avenue, as well as the soldiery in the 
vicinity of the exhibition edifice, formed into column and 
marched after it. 

The grand display being now over, I returned to my hotel 
in the Rue Joquelet ; spending part of the evening in some 
conversation with one of the monks of St. Bernard, who is 
staying where I am staying, and who like myself is a stranger. 

Of course, my witnessing of the magnificent scene of yes- 
terday could not fail to awaken in me a strong desire to in- 
spect the interior of the exhibition palace. Accordingly, 
this morning I early set out to visit it, admission being now 
extended to the public promiscuously. Unfortunately, the 
weather, instead of the louring retentiveness of yesterday's 
sky, had become unpleasant; spitting occasional drops of 
rain. Upon reaching the sought-for edifice and entering the 
gate (at which a certain admission fee was required) I 
could not help the being struck with the incompleteness and 
want of finish which yet characterize the vast fabric and every- 
thing about it. In the grounds outside, the soil looked, es- 
pecially about the edges, as if but yesterday delved ; and the 
newly transplanted trees as if they were but imperfectly sup- 
plied with the necessary sap from the roots. And an equal 
incompleteness marked the inside of the edifice. Not more 
than one-half of it was yet ready for the reception of the 
articles brought by exhibitors to be displayed. Some Ame- 
rican exhibitors, who came in the steamship with me, would 
not stop even a night at Havre lest their wares should be 
excluded ; but, instead of there being any need of this haste, 
the portion allotted to the United States was either mere 
vacant space or un planed pine boards. Britain, Belgium, 
Austria, and some of the States of Italy and of the minor 
States of Germany alone, were at all able to display their 
goods ; and most of these but imperfectly. It was plain that 
the bloused workmen had been laggards, or that the exhibi- 
tion committee had miscalculated. I am disposed to think 
that the former was the case, the employees yielding to some 
sinister influence : indeed, I myself have seen, I am pretty 



AND THE BRITISH ISLANDS. 53 

sure, such things among workmen in the United States. 
Yet, in spite of the backwardness of the state in which it is, 
the palace itself bears the aspect of that which when finished 
will be very grand. 

There are two remarks that I would here make in respect 
to this Exhibition Palace. First, unlike the London palace 
of '51, which was avowedly a temporary erection, run up 
for the exhibition of a single year, this edifice is a perma- 
nent building, intended to suffice for hundreds of displays of 
every description. Its architecture is therefore character- 
ized by durability and strength. Secondly, the present build- 
ing can scarcely be considered as more than a splendid vesti- 
bule to the suite of structures to be raised ; the vast annex 
along the quay, and the building of the Fine Arts, consti- 
tuting the principal complements ; but complements im- 
measurably more extensive than the main edifice. These 
considerations are to be borne in mind in order that the 
structure, as it now is, may be appreciated, or, I may say, 
be understood. 

Upon entering I naturally looked aloft to estimate the 
height of the ceiling. On looking up, I discovered that the 
monotony of the far-extending crystal roof was broken by a 
number of flags of various nations, suspended at equal dis- 
tances from the canopy of glass above, each bearing the 
colors and the name of the people to whom space had been 
allotted near it; — these flags displaying every color of the 
rainbow, and requiring only a slight breeze to fan their silks 
into movement that the most charming effect might be pro- 
duced. Looking around, I perceived that the color of the 
building is that peculiar tint known by the name of French- 
gray, with some bright colors pleasingly mingled in a frieze 
of open-work which surmounts the galleries ; crimson velvet 
and gold being the principal style of ornament employed. 
Then going to the staircases, which are imposing, I found 
them to bv. of white stone; and also going to the windows, 
which run along the wide landings above, I found them filled 
with stained glass sent in by exhibitors. 

The central aisle and the transept received from me a 
close inspection. In the central aisle is a noble fountain of 
several stages, though not yet glittering with water ; being 
filled, instead of water, with living flowers. In this aisle 
also stands a large pyramid of artificial flowers, by Diebitsh, 

4* 



54 TRAVELS IN FRANCE 

of Berlin. Again, in it is a colossal mirror of St. Gobin, 
(5 metres 36, by 3-36,) and colored glass articles and im- 
mense candelabra and chandeliers, these being of extraordi- 
nary beauty. Again, in it is a State carriage, with the arms 
of the Duke of Brabant. Again, it contains a book-case of 
the Emperor, and an aviary of the Empress, by Tahan. 
Again, there stands in it a grand pulpit of carved wood, 
though but indifferently adapted, in my opinion, for oratori- 
cal display. Again, in it are a group, in bronze, represent- 
ing Theseus killing the Minotaur, a Byzantine altar in gilt 
copper, an immense granite vase, two lofty church candela- 
bra, and a beautiful trophy of arms. Again, in it is the 
lenticular lighthouse of Sauter. Besides, it contains a model 
of the meridian circle of Grreenwich, with the model of the 
instrument employed to raise or depress it. As to the tran- 
sept, the main things in it that attract attention are the two 
stained windows at the end, these being by M. Mearechal, 
of Metz. One of them represents France seated on a 
throne of gold. She is appealing to foreign nations and in- 
viting them to come and assemble around her ; two female 
figures, Art and Science, sitting at her feet, while two male 
figures, a Shepherd, (representing the East,) and a Black- 
smith, (the West,) complete the composition. On the other 
window, the principal figure is Equity, holding in one hand 
the scales of justice, and in the other the seal with which 
every producer is to stamp his work ; Art and Science being 
here again represented at the feet of Equity, (as, in the 
other composition, at the feet of France,) and the Shepherd 
and Blacksmith, (figures also entering into the other pic- 
ture,) being placed at the extremities ; while allegorical fig- 
ures of the chief nations of the East and West surround the 
capital figure. 

Having inspected the aisle and transept till almost tired 
with looking at objects of beauty, I now proceeded to make 
my way through the vast crowd circulating at random through 
all parts of the edifice. It is only while thus passing around 
that it is possible to see how exceedingly backward the pre- 
parations still are. Yet there are several things displayed 
in other parts than those specially spoken of above, that de- 
serve attention ; as certain Tuscan products in inlaying and 
carving, several articles of jewelry, and gold and silver, (from 
England,) and some exceedingly rich Indian articles. But, 
perhaps, there is not anything within the entire area of the 



AND THE BRITISH ISLANDS. 55 

structure that is more worthy of admiration than the machine 
of Delarue, of London, for folding envelopes ; a machine that 
folds these at the rate of two thousand an hour, operating 
with a precision as marvelous as is its rapidity. Besides, I 
would add that I looked very closely on the fac-simile of a 
warrior of the middle ages, on horseback, dressed in plate 
armor, cap-a-pie, so as to be vulnerable only in the back part 
of the thigh ; his horse being also similarly protected, even 
to the covering of the forehead and mane. 

I will conclude with three remarks, what I have said with 
respect to this palace for the exposition of the world's indus- 
try. First, the whole affair is yet not anything more than a 
matter of splendid promise. Secondly, I fear that in the hot 
sunny weather of a Parisian summer, in spite of all the con- 
veniences for ventilation employed, glass will form a very 
uncomfortably warm overspreading. And thirdly, it would 
not be surprising, if, in a city so rich in spectacles as is Paris, 
the attention of strangers should be so much attracted else- 
where as to be greatly to the injury of the financial interest 
of this project. 

Having satisfied my curiosity by a visit extending through 
several hours, I at length prepared to return to my hotel. 
It had come to rain in torrents, so that I was not merely 
wet to the skin, but my skin itself was absolutely drenched 
before I could find an unengaged carriage. Having found 
one, I was soon housed for the remainder of the day, and, 
after awhile, employed in chronicling the matters and things 
of which I had lately been a gratified witnesss. 

I subscribe myself yours, &c., M. F. 

P. S. — I had several fine views of the Imperial Guard 
manoeuvring, as on yesterday it returned from the opening 
of the Industrial Palace. Just before the spot where I 
had placed myself, several portions of the successive masses 
as they marched past, broke up into total disorder, and then, 
in an inconceivably short lapse of time retrieved themselves ; 
going through the manoeuvre of troops broken in battle, 
rallying again to face the enemy. This sight was very fine. 
So, on the field of Waterloo, did the guard, when broken by 
the Iron Duke, form again ; repelling every attack with a 
wall of steel, till it was hewn, piecemeal, into bits, when these 
had come up, by the multitudinous phalanxes of the Prus- 
sians. 



66 TRAVELS IN FRANCE 



NO. YIL 

Visit to several celebrated Places on Miscellaneous Occasions — Tlie Hotel des Inva- 
lids; its Old Soldiers — The Waking of a Veteran — Turenne's Grave — De Vauban's — 
Napoleon's — St. Arnaud's — Cannon, &c. — The Hotel de Ville — Tlie Place de Grave, 
(where a famous Guillotine, &c.) — Julian's Bath, (Fragment of an old Roman Palace) 
— The Sorbonne — The Garden of Plants — Cedar of Lebanon — New Hotel. 

Paris, May, 1855. 

I PURPOSE in tills letter to give you, from my notes, some 
account of my visits on various miscellaneous occasions, to 
a number of places of deserved celebrity to which I have 
gone, but as to which I have not said anything, if I recol- 
lect well, in any of the letters that I have yet written to you. 
Some of these places I have looked at more than once. I 
ought to say that in visiting them I did not observe anything 
like the order in which I have put the record of my visits 
to them in this letter. But, in writing to you in relation to 
this city I ought not to pass them by ; and it did not fall in 
with the train of my thoughts to go into accounts of them 
before. 

First, as to the Hotel des Invalids. This edifice stands 
on the south of the Seine, not far from the centre of the 
southwest quarter of Paris, and not far from the Palace of 
the National Assembly. Its main front is in the direction 
of the river, though out of sight of it. As the visitor ap- 
proaches, a thing that immediately attracts his attention is 
a number of old soldiers in blue coats, officers and privates, 
walking about the extensive parade which lies in front. The 
total number of men in the institution, I learned, amounts to 
3200, all of them old and deserving soldiers, who have been 
admitted partly on account of their services, and partly in 
consideration of their reduced pecuniary circumstances. The 
building itself, which was erected by Louis XYI., is of an 
immense extent of front, (six hundred and twelve feet), and 
has in its centre a huge door surmounted by an arch. Upon 
entering this central door- way, and passing directly on, one 
comes to a large court, shaped like a parallelogram. At 
that end of this court, which end is opposite to the door of 
entrance, stands the church. It is a building at once spa- 



AND THE BRITISH ISLANDS. 67 

cious, beautiful, and imposing ; its dome being remarkable 
for its loftiness, being superior in height to the towers of 
Notre Dame, and to the dome of St. Paul's in London, and 
only lower than the tower of the Cathedral of Strasburg and 
the dome of St. Peter's at Rome. This church is adorned 
with a vast number of flags of various nations, trophies taken 
in war. And at one time, no less than three thousand such 
flags were suspended in its dome ; but when the Allies, in 
the wars of Napoleon I., entered Paris, the invalids burned 
them that they might not be recaptured. 

There are still some of those soldiers who served in the 
Spanish peninsula, or in Russia, or at Waterloo, dwelling 
in the barracks of the Hotel des Invalids. They are, how- 
ever, very aged. While I was in its church, an aged vete- 
ran was lying there on his bier. His aged companions, as 
is customary, kept watch in successive parties around him. 
This sight of the dead veteran was to me, I must say, a very 
affecting spectacle. 

In the Church of the Invalids sleep many eminent military 
men. Beneath its pavement reposes the dust of that great 
general, the Yiscount de Turenne, who after signalizing 
himself during forty years in Flanders, Italy, the south of 
France, various parts of Germany, and in Holland, was 
killed by a cannon ball, near the village of Saltzback, in 
July, 1675. In the same place reposes all that was mortal 
of a man equal in military genius even to Turenne, — a man 
who was engaged in one hundred and forty actions, con- 
ducted fifty-three sieges, aided in repairing three hundred 
ancient citadels, and built thirty-three new ones, — the cele- 
brated military engineer, Seigneur de Yauban. Here also 
rest the remains of Napoleon the Great, — a man whose won- 
derful career of victory no one can appreciate who has not 
stood at and beneath the Arch of Triumph, erected to com- 
memorate his glory, and to the glory of France, in the Ave- 
nue des Champs Elysees, and who has not reckoned over the 
long catalogue of his successful battles emblazoned on it. 
Here has he found repose at length, — the mighty conqueror, 
the wise legislator, the patron of all sorts of merit, the more 
than equal of kings and emperors, and, after all, the helpless 
exile of St. Helena. Under the grand and massy-pillared 
dome, in an urn of porphyry, were his bones sepulchred in De- 
cember, 1 840 ; while since, as his monument of ages, they have 



58 TRAVELS IN PRANCE 

been sentineled by the statues of twelve victories, hewn out 
of a single block of granite. Nor does he sleep alone ; for 
beside him lies the clay of Generals Bertrand and Duroc, — 
men who had filled near his person, while he was living, func- 
tions of friendship and confidence, and whose remains, in 
consideration of this, were in 1847, placed beside his, I 
would also add, that in the church of which I am speaking, 
the body of Marshal St. Arnaud has been committed to its 
mother earth ; he having died at sea, on his way home from 
the Crimea (as you well recollect as to the main fact,) on 
September 29th of last year, only nine days after his and 
Lord Raglan's victory of the Alma. 

I was in the kitchen of the hotel, where no less than three 
thousand pounds of flesh meat are cooked daily ; each one 
of the coppers being capable of boiling twelve hundred 
pounds at a time, and a single spit being capable of roasting 
at once four hundred pounds. The cooking utensils are all 
remarkable bright and clean. I was also in the dining apart- 
ments, both of the officers and privates, but unwilling to 
trespass on the privacy of old soldiers, inspected them only 
cursorily. The dinner was partly set and everything was 
neat and comfortable, and in all respects in such order as we 
ought to expect in connection with such a noble institution. 

In the broad area in front of the main building there is a 
number of pieces of cannon ; many of them of bronze, and all, 
or most of them, trophies captured in war. Many, or per- 
haps all, are kept ready-loaded, so that, when attempting to 
examine one, I was at once requested not to put my hand 
upon her. One of these guns exhibited the force with which 
a cannon ball hits, in a deep dint in the hard metal of the 
side of its muzzle, into which dint one might readily thrust a 
part of his head. The number of these pieces is upwards of 
thirty ; a part of them having been brought fi'om Egypt, 
(the one with the dint being one of these,) and some of 
them, (these being distinguished by the Arabic inscriptions,) 
from Algeria. 

I ought to add that the Hotel des Invalids has a library 
of more than 20,000 volumes. Before quitting this edi- 
fice, I would record an inscription, and the more readily 
as it is brief, which its church contains, in relation to the 
crucifixion of the Saviour, the sublime simplicity and touch- 
ing pathos of which cannot, in my opinion, be easily surpassed. 



AND THE BRITISH ISLANDS. 59 

It runs thus: "Mira res ! — Clamabant Judei, Crucifige : cla- 
mabat Jesus, Ignosce." 

I will now say something of the far-famed Hotel de Yille, 
or Town-hall of Paris. This edifice is located on the oppo- 
site side of the river from that edifice of which I have been 
speaking ; lying eastward from it at nearly the opposite 
side of the city. It is a very large building, of the shape of 
a parallelogram, and with a pavilion on each of its four 
angles. It contains the town clock, which is illuminated at 
night. It is one of the finest edifices in Paris. But the 
historical associations connected with it, and not its splendor, 
though it contains much that is splendid, were what were 
uppermost in my mind when looking on it. On the spot 
where it stands resided Charles Y. while dauphin. Here 
assembled the authorities of the city through a long vista of 
generations. It was from one of its windows that Louis 
XYI. spoke to the revolutionary multitude, with the cap of 
liberty on his head. In it Robespierre held his council, and 
it was in it that he and his brothers were besieged. Also, 
it was here that the Robespierres were captured ; the one 
with his jaw torn to pieces with a pistol shot, and the other 
stunned by a leap from a window to the pavement below. 
And here Louis Philippe was exhibited to the Parisians 
(twenty-five years ago) as the monarch of the barricades, 
who would rule the people of France as a citizen king. 

This edifice belongs, as to the style of its architecture, 
not to the Gothic, but to what is called the Renaissance ; 
that is, the style of the ancients revived. We add, that its 
western front faces the Place de Grave, in which space, as 
was also the case with the Place de Concorde, a very noted 
guillotine was erected during the time of the horrors of the 
first revolution. Indeed, in it was a large portion of the 
victims executed who were sent to death by the sixty revo- 
lutionary committees that at that time existed in Paris. 
Also, here, on July 28, 1830, in that revolution that made 
Louis Philippe king, one of the most severe contests that 
occurred between the revolutionists and the soldiery took 
place. 

I now proceed to say something in relation to Julian's 
Baths. These lie on the south of the Seine, at the distance 
of about four blocks from it ; being situated between the 
Rue de la Harpe, (a long crooked street beginning at the 



60 TRAVELS IN FRANCE 

river, opposite tlie island in it on which the ancient Lutetia 
stood, and running south to the garden of the Luxembourg,) 
and the Rue St. Jacques, (a street which, under different 
names, runs, right through the centre of. Paris, from south 
to north.) They consist of a long hall of sixty feet in 
length and of about fifteen in width ; the masonry of 
which is Roman. They are the remains of a palace 
built by Constantius Chlorus, the father and predecessor 
of Constantine the Great ; and their antiquity is made to 
be sensibly apparent to us when we remember that the 
founder of the palace of which they are a relic, died at 
York, in South Britain, in a.d. 306. These old baths take 
their name from the ancient Roman Emperor Julian, (the 
grandson of Chlorus and the nephew of Constantine,) who, be- 
fore he became emperor, spent several years in Gaul ; being 
engaged in summer in military operations against the Ger- 
mans, and spending his winters in the palace on this spot ; of 
which thing he speaks, while, with his pen, (in that still ex- 
tant work of his, M.'.(toitioyw^j, or the Beard-hater,) bravely 
defending his philosopher-like facial appendange of a long 
beard, against the jests of the people of Antioch. On this 
spot, also, does the history of the ancient world record that 
a most important revolution had its centre. In the winter 
of about 359, at midnight, the legions quartered in and 
about Paris marched to the Palace of the Baths, then in 
the suburbs, mutinously demanding of Julian to accept the 
imperial purple at their hands. Time for consideration 
having been asked, they returned next morning, and taking 
him up, bore him with drawn swords through the streets of 
the city, proclaiming him as they went, Emperor. Then, in 
his new character, he reviewed them in the old Field of 
Mars. A hall and walls, that are the relics of a palace in 
connection with which such long by-gone events have hap- 
pened, may safely be affirmed to be the most ancient of all 
the works reared by the hands of the mason that now exist 
in this city. This hall is now joined to an ancient Gothic 
edifice, the Hotel de Cluny, which was in the middle ages 
an abbey, and then became a palace, and which is now a 
museum. It is proper that I observe that, though I visited 
this place upon two occasions, I was not so fortunate as to 
obtain access to the museum, as it is open only on certain 
days, and I went at the wrong time. I was, however, per- 



AND THE BRITISH ISLANDS. 61 

mitted cursorily to examine, or, I should rather say, view 
the fragments of the Palace of Constantius Chlorus and 
Julian. 

Quite close to the architectural remains of which I have 
been speaking, and occupying a part, I believe, of the space, 
(which was very extensive,) covered by the ancient, Roman 
palace, stands the Sorbonne. This edifice I visited with a 
great deal of interest ; an interest that was greatly enhanced 
by the consideration of the vast influence which the faculty 
that occupied it once exerted. The college or theological 
institute of the Sorbonne, a name which comprehended the 
theological faculty of the University of Paris, was in former 
days one of the most learned, and in many respects one of 
the most liberal of the schools of the Roman Catholic 
Church. It was inimical to the peculiar tenets and policy 
of the Jesuits. It maintained the liberties of the French 
Church, as decreed by the ordinance drawn up under the 
auspices of Charles VII. at Bourges, in 1438, and as con- 
firmed and extended, in 1682, by Louis XIV., with the con- 
currence and approbation of the French clergy. Besides, 
it opposed the now nearly obsolete bull of Unigenitus, 
issued in 1113; in which some of the plain truths of the 
Christian religion were set at naught. The present edifice 
of the Sorbonne was constructed by Cardinal Richelieu, in 
1629, whose tomb it contains. I add that the name is de- 
rived from Robert of Sorbonne, near Rheims, a Catholic 
theologian held in high repute in his day. 
. I will now invite you to take a drive with me as far as 
the Garden of Plants, which is situated on the south bank 
of the Seine, near the southeastern limits of the city. I 
have nowhere seen the size of this inclosure given, but, judg- 
ing of its dimensions by those of the Grarden of the Tuileries, 
I would put it down as being about one and three-quar- 
ters as long as the Garden of the Tuileries ; as being at 
one end about one and one-half the width of said garden, 
and as being about of equal width at the other end. Thus 
its length would be about one thousand three hundred yards, 
and its width, at one end, about five hundred, and at the 
other, about three hundred and twenty yards. It was origin- 
ally merely a botanical garden, but long since it has been 
ftndered illustrative of all the branches of natural history ; 
containing a noble gallery of mineralogy and geology, a 

5 



62 TRAVELS IN FRANCE 

superb cabinet of comparative anatomy, an exceedingly ex- 
tensive menagerie, a varied collection from all countries of 
all the productions of eacli ; — all the various animals and 
plants existing, by artificial means, in that temperature which 
is suited to their constitution. It has also a library, a mu- 
seum, and gratuitous lectures in the summer months by 
learned professors. The visitor to the Garden may here be- 
hold all the precious stones that John, in the Apocalypse, 
describes as garnishing the foundations of the Heavenly 
Jerusalem ; the jasper, the sapphire, the chalcedony, the 
emerald, the sardonyx, the sardius, the chrysolite, the beryl, 
the topaz, the chrysoprasus, the jacinth, the amethyst. He 
may here behold the Polar bear, the crocodile, and the rare 
hippopotamus. He may here look upon the palm and the 
cedar of Lebanon. 

Not anything in the Garden is, to me, more worthy of at- 
tention than a splendid specimen of the latter-named tree. 
I speak of the cedar which was planted one hundred and 
twenty years ago by Jussieu, and which is now so large 
that, if cut off at the base, it would be four feet across. 
There it stands, on an elevation, the representative of its 
family, the monarch-tree among all the denizens of the forest. 
The Lebanon cedar is a rare tree, and I have not often seen 
it ; but always, when recognizing it, I look at it with respect. 
I think of its ever-cheerful and never-remitting greenness, of 
the vast age to which it lives, of the size to which it grows, 
and of its fragrance. I think of the mountains of Lebanon,. 
its original home, as they once were, and as they now are ; 
as they were when it covered their sides with its groves, till 
two thousand eight hundred and fifty years ago the hewers 
of Solomon began, on a great scale, to bare them of their 
stately growth ; as they are in our times, when only about 
eight or nine hundred of its family, according to the tra- 
veler Mayer, who visited them in 1813, are to be found, so 
far as he could ascertain, — and of these trees, not more 
than nine of very great s^ze. Nor are these the only asso- 
ciations connected in my mind with the Lebanon cedar, I 
always join with the sight, or even with the thought of it, 
ideas of sacredness. I think of the frequency with which 
it is referred to in the Old Testament, to give force and dig- 
nity to that Book's magnificent Oriental figures. One migh^ 
suppose, apart from the biblical associations that consecrate 



AND THE BRITISH ISLANDS. 63 

it, that the durability of its wood, (which from its bitter- 
ness is proof against worms, and which has remained fresh, 
as in the instance of the Temple of Utica, in Barbary, two 
thousand years,) and its unequaled adaptation to the pur- 
poses of ornament and shade, might have led to its propa- 
gation and cultivation by the hand of human industry. 
This, however, has not been the case to any great extent. 
A nuuiber is to be found in Witton Park, at Zion House, 
and in some other places in England ; and a few are to be 
met with in France and Italy ; and, besides these, there are 
some others in various countries ; but, I believe, very few, 
and these small, in the United States. Thus it is that its 
rarity makes it, when met with, a matter of considerable 
curiosity, and especially to an American. And if an ordi- 
nary Lebanon cedar be a legitimate object of curiosity, how 
much more Jussieu's ? Certainly, no stranger should visit 
the Garden of Plants without going to the mound on which 
this cedar stands, and taking a look at it. Not one of the 
least pleasing things, in connection with the Garden of 
Plants, is the illustrious men who have been, or are, con- 
nected with the administration of its affairs. Among these, 
are Guy de la Brosse, (the physician of Louis XIII.,) Duffay, 
Buffon, (the celebrated naturalist and author,) Yaillant, Jus- 
sieu, Cuvier, and many other eminent men, — some of them 
living, and some dead. 

I will conclude this epistle by a short reference to a 
mammoth hotel which is about being put up in the neigh- 
borhood of the Palace of the Louvre. This hotel, which is 
unlinished, and which is to be called the Hotel of Europe, 
I have lately been round to see. It is a va*t block of itself, 
and it is asserted, upon reliable authority, that it will contain 
no less than twelve hundred rooms for strangers ; these 
being to be classed according to their nations. No wood 
enters into its construction, iron being used as a substitute 
for it ; so that the lodger in the sixth story, and the lodger 
in the basement one, are equally safe. Yet, with all this, I 
must say that I felt disappointed in its external appearance. 
Indeed, I thought that in the United States I had seen 
hotels quite as imposing in their outward aspect, that have 
not anything more than a local celebrity. 

I subscribe myself yours, &c., M. F. 



64 TRAVELS IN FRANCE 



NO. YIIL 

Proper soon to close Notes on Paris — Bnrial-places — Abelard — Places in the Enriroits 
of Paris, &c. 

Paris, May, 1855. 

I SUPPOSE that by this time you are becoming tired of my 
descriptions of this great city. I have written so much in 
relation to it that perhaps I had better be now done with 
the subject as soon as possible. In what I will further say, 
I will therefore be, or at least endeavor to be, very brief. 
In this letter, I will take the liberty of taking you along 
with me while rambling at large in the environs. 

Every great city has not only its living inhabitants, but it 
has also its dead : and for the dead there must be places of 
repose. These places of rest for the dead were formerly, in 
Paris, in the interior of the city, and especially in and 
about churches. But, on account of the unhealthiness of 
crowded graveyards in the midst of a vast population, the 
custom of interring in such places was abolished ; and in 
the beginning of the reign of the first Emperor, four ceme- 
teries beyond the inhabited districts were established. Of 
these, that of Pere la Chaise, just beyond the Barriere des 
Amandiers, is the most celebrated. In it the first grave was 
opened at no later time than in 1804. At that time, it con- 
tained a little more than forty acres, though now it contains 
near to one hundred. It is laid out in graveled walks, and 
ornamented with shrubs and flowers. The ground is very 
uneven, and so high that from it one has a magnificent view 
of the city and environs. But what interests me most, is 
the number of celebrated persons that sleep within its walls ; 
something like eight of Napoleon's marshals, a large num- 
ber of literary men, and many other distinguished persons. 
It is also distinguished for the number and beauty of its 
monuments, more than two hundred millions of francs hav- 
ing been expended in about forty years in this manner. 
Among these is conspicuous that of the celebrated Abelard 
and Heloise; which is formed out of the materials of the 



AND THE BRITISH ISLANDS. 65 

Abbey of the Paraclete, on the Upper Seine ; which had 
been the oratory of Abelard, and of which, subsequently, 
when it had been converted into an abbey, Heloise became 
the first abbess. On their tomb, he is represented in a re- 
cumbent posture, with his hands joined on his breast, be- 
side him being the figure of Heloise. These persons, "loving 
in their lives, and in death not divided," had originally been 
buried, side by side, in the Abbey of the Paraclete, where 
their ashes remained undisturbed till 1800, when they were 
carried to the Museum of French Monuments in Paris, and 
thence, in November, 1817, they were conveyed to a chapel 
within the precincts of the Church of Monamy, and thence 
to this spot. Here, after the lapse of seven centuries, when 
the graves of so many of their contemporary kings have 
been forgotten, does "the pale marble" still keep fresh in 
the minds of successive generations the memory of those ar- 
dent but unhappy lovers, indicating, age after age, to loiter- 
ers among the tombs, the patch of earth, according to their 
wish — 

'•' Where one kind grave unites each hapless name, 
And grafts her love immortal on his tame." 

1 am aware that there is a difference of opinion about it, 
but, for myself, I must say I think that where a man's or 
woman's bones rest, there, and there only, is it in good taste 
to build the dead one's monument. Yet, in the case of 
Heloise and Abelard, even though their* ashes were absent, 
the monument erected to them would have vast interest, 
since those stones long witnessed the presence, both while 
living and when dead, of those whom they have been so 
gracefully piled up to commemorate. I ought to observe 
that it is only a part of Pere la Chaise that is decorated 
with marble tombs, in honor of those who sleep beneath. 
Besides its fifty thousand monuments, — many of these very 
magnificent, — a part of the inclosure is devoted to tempo- 
rary graves, whence, after a few years, the bones are re- 
moved to the catacombs under the city, and a part is used 
for mere common ditches into which the poor arc put, to 
be removed after the lapse of a still briefer time. 

Nor has this vast graveyard been a stranger to the vicissi- 
tudes of war. When, — after having defeated and cut up the 

5* 



66 TRAVELS IN FRANCE 

French, under Marmont and Mortier, at Fere Charapenoize, 
on the 24th of March, 1814, the Emperor Alexander, of 
Russia, with his Guards, having been present, — the Allies 
advanced on Paris, a severe battle was fought between them 
and the French, on the subsequent 30th. While, in this 
battle, one main point of attack was the the height of Mont- 
raartre, directly to the north of the city, (those heights on 
which, in 978, Otho II. caused his army to sing, conjointly, 
a Latin canticle, in order to give effect to his German boast, 
that he would go to Paris and make music loud enough 
for the whole city to hear it,) another salient point of mur- 
derous contact was the burial-ground of Pere la Chaise, on 
the E.N.E. The French loop-holed its walls, and esta- 
blished in it batteries. On the other hand, the Russians 
sought to dislodge them. This led to three terrible conflicts 
among its valleys and slopes ; the graves and tombs of the 
dead, meanwhile, being freely watered with blood. At 
length the Russians proved victorious. 

With respect to this cemetery I will only add, that it took 
its name from the Confessor of Louis XIY., the man under 
whose influence that monarch revoked the edict of Nantes, 
Pere la Chaise, who there, in his day, owned some property. 

We will now direct the driver of our carriage to take us 
to St. Denis, about seven or eight miles of a pleasant drive 
by the Canal of St. Denis, and through a beautiful country. 
Beautiful was the day on which, through this district — a dis- 
trict through which^ a little earlier in the year than this, forty- 
one years ago, Cossacks were galloping as thick as swarms of 
bees — I made my way to that ancient and well-built town. 
With respect to it, I will only speak of its church and abbey, 
the only things in the place, that I saw, that are much 
worthy of note. The church is a Gothic edifice of 415 feet 
in length, and 106 in width, and is adorned with two towers 
and a spire. It is the most ancient church in France ; the 
first step toward the erection of it having been taken as 
early as 240, when a chapel was built, where it stands, over 
the remains of St. Denis and his companions in martyrdom. 
While it was still a chapel. King Chilperic, in 580, interred 
in it one of his sons. Subsequently Dagobert, (of the Me- 
rovingian race,) transformed the chapel into this vast church, 
— which, however, he left in an imperfect state ; and in it 
himself was buried, in 638. Several, also, of the Carlo vingxan 



AND THE BRITISH ISLANDS. 6*7 

race of kings here found a sepulchre; and all the kings of 
the third race, from Hugh Capet, who died in 996, to Louis 
XV., who died in ltt4, were here entombed. But, — a thing 
revolting to the best feelings of humanity, — in the revolution 
of 1189, these vaults were not left undesecrated ; the poor 
remains of so many mighty kings having been rudely, and 
by vile hands, carried away from the spot of earth in which 
ought to have been their last resting-place. In the October 
of '93, the kings and queens of France were brought from 
their vaults under the choir and arranged around the walls of 
this church ! The bodies of several, we are told, as of 
Henry lY. and of Louis XIY., were in such a state of pre- 
servation that they could be recognized with perfect cer- 
tainty. And, after having been exhibited as a melancholy 
spectacle to beholders, and as a lesson as to the vicissitudes 
of human affairs, — the question of the manner of their dis- 
posal having been decided in a stormy debate in the national 
legislature, — the r^ains were cast promiscuously into a pit, 
while the leaden coffins which had contained them, were 
melted down for bullets ! How hard a thing is human na- 
ture, and especially when it can hide its brutality in a 
crowd ! I ought to add to what I have said of the dese- 
cration of the royal vaults, that Louis XYIII. regathered 
the dust and bones of the old kings from their pit, and, con- 
joining with them the relics of Louis XYI. and his family, 
(from the cemetery of the Madeleine,) had all here again in- 
terred in the ancient royal burial-ground. 

The fine buildings of the abbey are now used as a house 
of instruction ; five hundred young orphan ladies, all related 
to members of the Legion of Honor, being here educated, — 
and four hundred of these gratuitously. 

Anciently, the Abbe of this old religious establishment 
was a man of such consequence that he had the king himself 
for a vassal ; he holding of him in fief, as we learn in the 
history of France, a small territory called the Yexin. Also, 
under his care was that banner brought, by angels from 
heaven, in the reign of Clovis, the sacred oriflamme, at the 
unfurling of which the feudal retainers of France used, in 
olden times, to rally around the monarch in great emergen- 
cies. 

With respect to the country around St. Denis, I observe 
that it is exceedingly beautiful and quite level. In the reign 



68 TEAVELS IN FRANCE 

of Charles IX. this ground became the scene of a severe bat- 
tle between an army of Huguenots and the royal army under 
the Constable Montmorenci, — in which the Huguenots were 
worsted, but not till the adverse party had lost their gene- 
ral. Passing rapidly over it in the direction of Paris, we 
soon reached the gate of St. Denis and the Triumphal Arch 
there erected, in 16*72, in honor of Louis XIY. ; one of the 
finest monuments in this capital. Nor were we long in 
reaching our hotel. 

I will occupy the remainder of this epistle with accounts 
of two of my afternoons ; one spent at Yincennes, and the 
other at Yersailies. 

First, I will ask you to drive out with me for a stay of an 
hour and a half at Yincennes. This town, which contains 
nearly four thousand inhabitants, lies nearly four miles to 
the east of Paris, being approached by a long and magnifi- 
cent avenue. To the south of it lies the Wood of Yincennes. 
This wood is as unlike a primitive forest^s can well be con- 
ceived. It is laid out in beautiful walks, and in its centre 
nine roads meet; while on the spot where these meet an obe- 
lisk stands, having a globe on the top and bearing inscrip- 
tions, — with the date of 1131, as that to which the plantations 
are to be traced back. To the north of these plantations, and 
between them and the town, lies the Chateau de Yincennes. 
This chateau began to be a regal residence about the year 
1200, in the reign of Philip Augustus. But the beginning 
of the present edifice does not go back beyond 133t. In the 
time of Louis XL (about 1475,) the lower part was con- 
verted into a State prison ; and the vaults where the impri- 
soned suffered, and especially the room of tortures, (la salle 
des Questions,) are still to be seen, — that is, so far as dark- 
ness can be seen, — the room of tortures being totally dark. 
In this chateau resided numerous kings, and in it died the 
miserable Charles IX., of St. Bartholomew celebrity. In it 
also resided Henry Y. of England, that powerful and wise 
monarch who, in a,ddition to his own kingdom, was declared 
heir to the throne of Prance ; and in it he died. But not 
only did kings reside in it : also many illustrious men have 
in it been kept as prisoners. In it, — among many, very 
many, w^hom we cannot stop to name, — was confined the 
Prince de Conde ; in it was immured, and died, (in 1721,) 
Marshal Ornano ; in it was imprisoned the Duke de Yen- 



AND THE BRITISH ISLANDS. 69 

dome ; in it were detained Diderot and Mirabean ; and at 
it was the Duke d'Enghien shot : in a spot which the guide 
does not show without being asked for it, at the angle of a 
wall round the foundations of this palace of his ancestors, in 
a remote corner, a place neglected and out of the way, did 
this hapless and injured young soldier, on the 20th of 
March, 1804, find his death and grave. This chateau is 
now used as an armory and a depot of artillery. 

I will now ask you to spend part of an afternoon at Ver- 
sailles in my company. This town lies on the very opposite 
side of Paris from Yincennes, at the distance from Paris of 
ten miles. This distance, however, is actually nothing, as 
the town is reached by two railroads. It is the most beau- 
tiful place in the environs of the French capital, and the most 
worthy of a visit. The town, however, beautiful as it is, is 
eclipsed by the palace in it, which, in many respects, is un- 
equaled. This town was the birth-place of the distinguished 
republican general Hoche, — after whom a fine street and 
square have been named, and to whom, in the Place Hoche, 
a statue has been erected. In it the treaty between France 
and England, by which an end was put to the war of Ame- 
rican Independence, was signed ; and in it, on the tth of 
May, 1789, were the States-General brought together, — that 
body which subsequently, and indeed very soon, Jbecame 
transmuted into the National Assembly. 

But that which mainly takes the stranger to Yersailles is 
its palace. This palace, which is now a historical museum, 
was reared by Louis XIY., who is said to have expended on 
it forty millions of pounds sterling. In It 92 it was greatly 
injured by the Parisian mob, which here was guilty of great 
excesses; but, since, it has been repaired and restored by Na- 
poleon and Louis Philippe, — particularly by the latter, who 
expended on it fifteen millions of francs. It is more than 
800 feet in length, and contains, — in addition to the great 
gallery of 232 feet in length, 30 wide, and 3t high, lighted 
by IT great windows, — eight magnificent saloons adorned 
with statuary, paintings, and architectural embellishments. 
This palace is said to contain ten thousand pictures. Among 
the paintings are histories of the military career of France 
from the time of Clovis, her first Christian king, down to 
the conquest of Algiers ; the figures in these being of the 
size of life. One apartment, already referred to, La Grande 



to TRAVELS IN FRANCE 

Galerie des Glaces, is, in all probability, the largest and hand- 
somest room in the world. Also, the vast gardens, the noble 
orangery, and the park, belonging to this royal mansion, cor- 
respond to the magnificence of the edifice with which they are 
connected. In them the beauties of art and nature, in the ut- 
most variety, are to be met with. •There, are to be met with 
in profusion, and distributed with taste and discernment, basins 
and sheets of water, water-jets and cascades, statues, vases, 
and columns, (all these by the most eminent artists,) and wind- 
ing avenues and alleys, extending among grass-plots, beyond 
sight ; and these things are set off to the utmost advantage 
by terraces at once beautiful and grand, and by the noble 
facade of the chateau itself 

So much, at the tail of this letter, for a part of an after- 
noon spent amid the magnificence and beauties of Versailles. 

I conclude njy epistle by subscribing myself, 

Yours, &c., M. F. 

P. S. — I have in this letter spoken of the bones of Louis 
XYI. and Maria Antoinette being interred in the royal 
barial-place at St. Denis. I would observe that, instead of 
this, many people believe them to be built into one of those 
chapels of bones in the catacombs, under the city ; into the 
structure of which chapels the bones of the persons who per- 
ished by the guillotine, from 1789 to 1830, have been made 
to enter. However this may be, it is pretty certain that 
the bones of Robespierre, of Madame Dubarry, and of 
Charlotte Corday, are now in the catacombs, — being sup- 
posed to be built into the Chapelle Expiatoire. 



NO. IX. 



Visits to Churclies — French Catholic Cliurch-goiiig — The Madeleine — The Pantheon — 
Notre Dame — Pope's Robes — Protestant Churclies— French Sabbaths — A Protestant 
Sermon. 

Paris, May, 1855. 

I PURPOSE in this letter to give you some account of some 
of the various churches that I have visited in this great city, 



AND THE BRITISH ISLANDS. 11 

and also of the manner in which I have spent a couple of 
Sabbaths ; and let me remark that the religious edifices dedi- 
cated here, and the same is true elsewhere, by Roman 
Catholics to religious worship are, in proportion to the 
population adhering to the Roman Catholic division of the 
Christian world, few in number when compared with the 
number of edi-fices set apart to the worship of an equal Pro- 
testant population in Protestant cities. It is on this account 
that the Romanist churches in Paris are so distinguished 
for their costliness; and what enables them to get along 
without any very great number of temples of worship is, each 
church is opened early on the morning of each Sabbath, and 
as soon as one service ends another begins, till long after 
the close of daylight, — one officiating priest succeeding 
another till the time arrives when the doors are closed for 
the day. Thus, the same edifice accommodates in one 
day many congregations. Thus, also, though the audience 
may appear thin, the number of worshipers in a church 
from early in the morning till late in the evening may be 
consideraJale. 

The first church which I entered in Paris was that of 
St. Germain I'Auxerrois, which stands contiguous to the 
Louvre. Of it I have spoken in a former letter ; I will there- 
fore now pass it by. I will confine what I say to the four 
Catholic churches of the Madeleine, the Pantheon, Notre 
Dame, and St. Roche ; and, in connection with these, say a 
word or two in relation to some of the Protestant churches. 

Tiie Church of the Madeleine stands at no very great dis- 
tance from the Obelisk of Luxor, which is in the Place de 
la Concorde, and opposite the main front of the Emperor's 
palace. Its south end is toward a short street extending 
north from the place just spoken of, while its north end faces 
a street named the Rue Tronchet. One portion of the edi- 
fice is toward that celebrated street which occupies the 
ground which once contained the walls of Paris, the Boule- 
vards. All the streets around are at once highly respecta- 
ble and well built, though by no means equally so. It is 
worthy of being noted that it was here, on the Boulevard de 
Madeleine, that, on a dark chilly night in June, 1804, the 
two celebrated generals, Moreau and Pichegru, met to 
arrange with Cadoudal their conspiracy against the consu- 
lar government and Bonaparte its chief. The structure of 



12 TRAVELS IN FRANCE 

the Madeleine stands on an artificial platform, elevated to 
give to it due dignity. The visitor, when seeking to enter 
the interior, goes up, in order to reach the level of the floor, 
a long flight of steps. First, he stands on the broad sum- 
mit of the platform, and then advancing a brief way he 
reaches a colonnade of eight vast columns. He now stands 
at the south end of the edifice, where is its principal entrance, 
which looks in the direction of the Place de Concorde. The 
doors are 32 feet in height by 16|- in width, being of bronze, 
and having carved on them, (in a manner almost perfect,) 
several scriptural subjects. When these have been passed, 
the interior is discovered to correspond with what the visi- 
tor has been led to expect. It is a vast nave, and spacious 
choir, lined with rich marbles, the ceiling being gilt and 
supported by.majestic pillars. The sculptures and paintings 
are greatly admired. One painting on the ceiling is particu- 
larly worthy of notice : in it the Saviour, with the Magda- 
lene by his side, is pictured, surrounded by his Apostles and 
many of those whose names are associated with the history 
of the Christian Church ; the Magdalefte kneeling on a 
cloud which is supported by three angels, who, while they 
support the cloud, exhibit a scroll on which is written, 
'' Dilexit muUum," (she loved much.; The visitor now 
goes around the exterior of the church, which is surrounded 
entirely by Corinthian columns of huge size, but admirable 
in their proportions, there being between these columns 
niches in which statues of saints are placed. And this leads 
me to remark that there are no windows, their places being 
filled by the statues spoken of; and, to compensate for the 
absence of windows, the edifice is lighted from the roof. 
This roof is entirely composed of iron and copper ; nor has 
any article of wood been employed in the construction of any 
part of the building. I would further add, in relation to this 
edifice, that its length is given at 328 feet, and its width at 
138 ; that it has the form of an antique temple ; and that the 
colonnade going around it consists of eighteen columns on 
each side and eight at each end. 

This church, which stands on the site of the old Church of 
laVille I'Eveque, was begun in 1T64. Not being finished at the 
breaking out of the revolution of 1Y89, the work was then sus- 
pended ; and it was not recommenced till 1808. Before this, 
however, in 1806 or 1807, the idea of recontinuing the bro- 



AND THE BRITISH ISLANDS. IS 

ken oir work was entertained by Napoleon, then the head of 
the French government, and in the height of his glory ; and, 
in consequence of this, plans from architects were invited to 
be proposed. On these plans when proposed, the Emperor 
made, in 180t, as we learn from one of his biographies, the 
following comment: — " After having attentively considered 
the different plans submitted to my examination, I have not 
the smallest doubt as to which I should adopt. That of 
M. Yignon, alone fulfills my wishes. It is a temple which I 
desire, not a church. What could you erect as a church 
which could vie with the Pantheon, with Notre Dame, or, 
above all, with St. Peter's at Rome ? Everything in the 
temple should be in a chaste, severe, durable style. It 
should be fitted for solemnities at all hours and times. The 
imperial throne should be a curule chair of marble. There 
should be seats of marble for the persons invited, an amphi- 
theatre of marble for the performers. No furniture should 
be admitted but cushions for the seats. All should be of 
granite, of marble, and of iron. * * * Not more than 
$600,000 should be required. The Temple of Athens cost 
not more than one-half of that sum. In the Pantheon, 
$3,000,000 have been absorbed. But I should no-t object to 
the expenditure of a million of dollars for the construction 
of a temple worthy the first city in the world." In accord- 
ance with these directions was the work recontinued. Soon, 
however, the disasters of the Russian campaign, followed by 
the invasion of France by a million of soldiers sustained by 
another million of bayonets in reserve, again interrupted the 
progress of the undertaking. Little, henceforward, was done 
till the reign of Louis Philippe, when it was completed in 
its present style. 

As to the Pantheon, I remark, that it stands to the south 
of the Seine, in that part of Paris which is, I believe, inha- 
bited by the least fashionable part of the population. It 
stands at some distance to the east of a long street which, 
under different names, crosses Paris nearly from south to 
north, and which is here called the Rue St. Jacques. Around 
it there is an open space called the Place de Pantheon. 
Nearly on the other side of the street, at some distance to 
the west, are the palace and garden of the Luxembourg. 
The shape of this celebrated church is nearly that of a Greek 
cross, that is, a cross of that form in which the upright beam 

6 



74 TRAVELS IN FRANCE 

and the transverse one are of equal lengths and united at their 
middles. Its main entrance is approached by a flight of 
steps, and before it are six immense fluted Corinthian co- 
lumns of sixty feet in height and six in diameter. The great- 
est length of the edifice in one direction is 288 feet, and in 
another 252. It is surmounted by three concentric domes, 
the height of the highest of which is 282 feet; or, perhaps 
it would be more proper to say, it is surmounted by a dome 
composed of three concentric cupolas. The interior is not 
easily paralleled ; its proportions, its innumerable columns, 
and the multiplicity and richness of its ornaments, being ob- 
jects worthy the admiration of all beholders. This part of 
the building is divided into four main divisions or distinct 
places that are or may be used as places of worship. 

The ornaments of the Pantheon (I attempt to speak of 
only one or two of these) are, first, the figure with a crown 
of stars around its forehead, which meets the visitor outside 
above the main entrance ; this figure representing France 
distributing rewards to her eminent men, while History and 
Liberty, each appropriately employed, sit at her feet. Close 
by this allegorical figure are represented several persons 
illustrious in their various spheres, — the preacher, the pain- 
ter, the senatorial orator, the mathematician, the naturalist, 
and the most consumate general of France or perhaps of 
almost all history, and, with proper impartiality, by him the 
little drummer of Arcole. This ornament does not belong to 
the edifice viewed as a church, but as the pantheon of French 
greatness. Next, inside, the effect of the beautiful simple 
ceiling, which is supported by a range of 130 splendid co- 
lumns, is pleasing in the extreme. Also the painting visible 
up in the dome, which the strong light up there shows afar 
off, is well worthy of notice. It cost 100,000 francs, and 
besides, the painter was knighted. 

But there is not anything connected with the Pantheon 
more worthy of inspection than the vaults beneath. These 
equal the whole extent of the church. Nor are they so 
damp and unhealthy as one would suppose beforehand. In 
them repose several very eminent persons. Of those interred 
in them I may name Bougainville, one of the circumnaviga- 
tors of the globe ; Lagrange, the eminent mathematician and 
the author of the Mechanique^ Analytique ; and Benjamin 
Constant the distinguished statesman and orator. Here 



. AND THE BRITISH ISLANDS. T5 

also are the mortal remains of Marshal Lannes, Duke of 
Montebello, a soldier who distinguished himself at the battles 
of Millesimo, the Pyramids, Austerlitz, Jena, Eylau, Fried- 
land, Tudela and Saragossa, and who at last fell at Aspern. 
Here are the ashes of Rosseau, the man of genius and sensi- 
bility, and at the same time the propagandist of immorality 
and infidelity. Here, besides, are the ashes of Voltaire, the 
greatest of French writers ; great as a prose writer, a poet, 
and a wit ; great on account of the extent of his knowledge, 
the versatility of his genius, the ease with which he gives 
words to his thoughts, the exquisiteness of his taste, and the 
brilliancy of his imagination ; but, along with all these noble 
qualities, too often the propagator of the principles of irre- 
ligion, anarchy, and libertinism. Along with these distin- 
guished men, (men famous in all lands and in all times,) in 
neighboring tombs lie buried many others, noted in secular 
and ecclesiastical life in their day, but the memory of most of 
whom has almost faded away everywhere else except among 
those gloomy recesses which inclose their ashes. In sarco- 
phagi in these vaults, also, at one time lay the bodies of Ma- 
rat, the most execrable and blood-thirsty of the men of the 
revolution of 1789, and Mirabeau, dissipated and flagitious, 
but the great orator and leader of the popular party in the 
National Assembly. These idols of their political parties, 
however, were soon depantheonized. Though the populace 
had assisted in burying both with great pomp as national 
benefactors, it ere long changed its humor, dragging forth 
the remains of the former and casting them into a common 
sink, and dispersing the ashes of the latter in the air with 
every mark of ignominy. I had almost forgotten to mention 
that there is a whispering gallery quite close to these recep- 
tacles of dead men's bones ; that we had experiments made 
in it in our presence of the distance to which whispers, in 
other circumstances, inaudible, may be heard, these hushed 
voices sounding not merely as full as the original voice to a 
person close beside the whisperer, but immeasurably louder ; 
and that our guide raised a pistol which he fired and which 
made every recess and corner of the vast cellared space to 
ring with the amplified and accumulated concussion, while 
the first report called forth so many successive reports, 
(echoes of the first report or of each other,) that it might well 
be supposed that a dozen pistols had been discharged instead 
of one. 



16 TRAVELS IN FRANCE 

This noble temple of worship stands on the site of an old 
abbey, that of St. Genevieve. The first stone of it was laid 
in 1764, and, as I mentioned above, the cost of erecting it 
was no less than three millions of dollars. 

Having told you all that I intended to say of the Pan- 
theon, I will now give some account of the Church of Notre 
Dame, a church which is the continuation of one erected in 
the reign of the Roman Emperor Yalentinian, which one 
was the first edifice of Christian worship in Paris. The pre- 
sent edifice is in the French-Gothic style, and was begun in 
1160, the first stone having been laid by Pope Alexander 
III., at that time a refugee in France. The main work of 
the erection of the building, however, was done by Philip 
Augustus, who reigned from 1180 till 1223. Yetit was not 
fully completed till about 1420. It stands at the eastern 
point of that one of the isles in the Seine, to which island 
the city in very ancient times had been mainly confined, its 
chief front being towards the west. It is in its shape cruci- 
form, its extreme length being 390 feet, and its extreme 
width at the transepts, 144 feet. Two wide aisles run the 
whole length of the interior from west to east. Along the 
sides, and indeed from all parts of it, chapels, (to the num- 
ber of 54,) branch off, the larger ones of these being used 
for worship on ordinary occasions, and not the main body of 
the church. Its two square towers at the main front, with 
their huge bell which it requires eight strong men to put in 
motion and which is only rung on solemn occasions, its ele- 
gant lateral doors, and its magnificent and skillfully sculp- 
tured portals, externally ; its immense organ, its four rows of 
grand columns, its admirable polished iron railing, between 
the nave and the choir, its beautiful carvings, sculpturings, and 
paintings, its arches, and the boldness of its vaulted roof, in- 
ternally ; — all these, in connection with its great gloomy win- 
dows that give barely light enough, contribute to bestow on 
this church that capability for exciting a blended feeling of 
admiration and awe, that it possesses. I visited it on two 
occasions. On the former I was shown the rich sacerdotal 
robes worn by the Cardinal Archbishop of Paris on very 
great occasions ; the robes worn by the Pope when he 
crowned Napoleon I. ; the rich and very massive golden ser- 
vice for the administration of the Eucharist, presented by Na- 
poleon to the church ; and, along with these, a part of the 



AND THE BRITISH ISLANDS. 11 

skull of the late Archbishop of Paris, who perished in the civil 
commotions during the time of the late Kepublic, the hole 
made by the bullet, (which was also shown,) being visible. 
On the second occasion there were a religious service and a 
sermon in one of the chapels, at which I was present. The 
officiating clergyman was a large powerful man of somewhat 
rustic appearance, but an eloquent speaker ; and his audi- 
ence was as large as the railed-oflf portion of the church in 
which he officiated could conveniently hold, and it was at- 
tentive. 

Numerous are the historical transactions which the old 
Gothic walls of Notre Dame have witnessed, a few of which 
transactions I may mention. When it was yet far from be- 
ing finished, (about 1304,) its walls looked on a piece of medi- 
eval devotion very foreign from our modern notions. I re- 
fer to the thanksgiving made in it by Philip the Fair for 
his victories over the Flemmings. On that occasion, that 
monarch rode into it on horseback, booted, spurred, and fully 
accoutred, and, in this queer devotional dress and attitude, 
expressed his gratitude before the high altar. Pifty years 
subsequent to this, on this altar a wax taper burned for four 
years, without extinguishment, in sorrow for King John made 
a prisoner by the Black Prince at the battle of Poitiers, and 
carried to England. Next we would note that it was in this 
edifice, if we err not, that Henry YI. of England, celebrated 
for his gentleness and his misfortunes, was, at nine years of 
age, crowned King of Prance. Passing over along lapse of 
years, here, at the close of 1793, was witnessed one of the 
most impious proceedings on record. On that occasion an 
opera girl of abandoned character, in the character of God- 
dess of Reason, was elevated, naked, on the high altar, by He- 
bert and his associates, — she being thus presented to all good 
Frenchmen as an object of worship, while, at the same time, 
the rule of Deity was, in all proper senses, publicly disavowed 
and renounced. Also, nine years later, this building was the 
scene of another grand ceremony not lacking jn absurdity, 
at which Napoleon Bonaparte and his grenadiers were as- 
sisting ; I speak of the re-inauguration of the Christian reli- 
gion in France. Then, in two years, followed this, in the 
same edifice, (amid the shouts of the multitude, the roar of 
cannon, and the sound of five hundred instruments of music,) 
the coronation of this Napoleon, by the hands of the Pope. 

6* 



Y8 TRAVELS IN FRANCE 

Subsequent to this, we will only notice that great prominence 
was j?iven to Notre Dame in connection with the revolution 
of 1830, that revolution that raised Louis Philippe to the 
throne. On that occasion, on the morning of July 28th, 
the revolutionary flag was raised on its towers as early as 
nine o'clock, while it was not raised on the central tower of 
the Hotel de Yille till eleven. And, moreover, it was close by 
it, at the north end of the Bridge of Notre Dame, that one of 
the severest contests of the revolution of 1830 took place. 

However, neither the Madeleine, the Pantheon, nor Notre 
Dame is the most fashionable of the Catholic churches in 
Paris. This distinction belongs to St. Roche. Indeed, the 
worshipers in Notre Dame are an exceedingly plain-look- 
ing people, and the same, I believe, is true of the worship- 
ers in the two other churches named. This church, (St. 
Roche,) stands on the Rue St. Honore, a little west of 
north of the Tuileries, and immediately in their vicinity, and 
in that of the Palais Royal. It was commenced by Louis 
XIY., but was not finished till a little more than a hundred 
years ago. Its portal, with its long flight of steps, and its 
two ranges of columns, has quite an imposing aspect. In- 
ternally, it is very spacious, the length of the building 
particularly being very great. Its pulpit, or tribune, some 
of its chapels, and its pictures, are worthy of very special 
attention. Yet, after all, it may be remarked, that rich- 
ness and brilliancy too much supersede the serious and re- 
flective style suited to a temple of worship. St. Roche has, 
by a great deal, the largest congregation of wealthy wor- 
shipers of any place of worship in Paris ; and the pomp of 
its ceremonial, and excellence of the singing and music, are 
beyond danger from rivalry. In the time of Louis Philippe, 
it was the court church. In it the celebrated Corneille lies 
interred. There are two historical incidents connected with 
this edifice which I should not pass by. It was from it that 
the hapless Maria Antoinette was led to execution. Besides, 
it was from before its portal that the youthful Napoleon 
leveled his guns, when, in the days of the Directory, he swept 
with grape the insurgent sectionaries from the thoroughfare 
of St. Honore, Both of these transactions are matters never 
to be forgotten. 

Before leaving the subject of churches, I will say a few 
words, and only a few, in relation to the Protestant churches. 



AND THE BRITISH ISLANDS. T9 

The best of these are, that of the Oratoire, which is quite 
close by the palaces of the Louvre and Tuileries; that of the 
Visitation, not far from where stood the old Bastile ; and the 
Chapel of the English Ambassador, in a small and unpre- 
tending street, and not at any very considerable distance 
from his mansion. As to the British Ambassador's chapel, 
I was disappointed. It is a substantial building, but that is 
all ; being neither remarkable for its size, its convenience, its 
location, nor the beauty of its architecture. Indeed, the 
only thing remarkable about it is, that, in contradistinction 
to what prevails almost universally in French churches, it is 
pewed ; while French churches have the aisles marked out 
by chains, and the persons worshiping in them sit on chairs. 
I have often heard-that French Sabbaths are days entirely 
devoted to pleasure. Travelers have said that the day of 
rest is, in Paris, the chief day of dissipation and amusement. 
No doubt this is the case, to the full extent, in many points 
of view, of what has been so often asserted. And in con- 
firmation of it, I would mention, that the race-course around 
the Champ de Mars is crowded with spectators on almost 
every Sabbath, when the weather will permit ; and that races 
are here regularly run for the amusement of such as choose 
to attend ; also, theatres, and other places of diversion, are 
open. Besides, reviews of the troops are very frequent on 
this day. But, with all this, those who choose, may spend 
quiet Sabbaths in France, as well as in Britain or America. 
For myself, I must say, that the Sabbath of Paris has been 
as quiet to me as, in similar circumstances, it would be in any 
American city 

I would mention that, on my two Sabbaths here, I have 
gone to Protestant worship three times, twice on one Sab- 
bath and once on the other ; having been prevented from 
attending a second time on the latter Sabbath, by making a 
mistake as to the hour. I also attended, (once, on each of 
the two Sabbaths,) at Catholic churches, — once in Notre 
Dame where I heard, as I mentioned above, a French ser- 
mon, and once at another Catholic church, where mass 
alone was celebrated. As to the sermons in the Protestant 
churches, I do not think that they were distinguished for 
very great ability, though all the preachers spoke so as to 
leave the impression that their pulpit efforts were not merely 
professional, but also from the sincerity of the heart. One 



80 TRAVELS IN FRANCE 

of the preachers was preaching, I suppose, with a view to an 
approaching celebration of the Lord's Supper. In the dis- 
course which he delivered he urged strongly the duty of 
partaking of the communion ; inculcating on his hearers 
that G-od, in speaking to man, uses the relation of parent 
and child, as being that in which the affections on both sides 
are purest, to illustrate the attitude in which he stands 
toward those who sincerely worship and obey him. He 
argued, on this ground, that the communion cannot be in- 
tended to entrap us into sin ; and that only he who is sen- 
sible of dishonesty in approaching to it, is forbidden to come ; 
no impediment being in the way of any one but what would 
forbid prayer. All the Protestant ministers whom I heard 
preach, preached in English. It is also worthy of remark, 
that an individual stands at the door of the British Ambas- 
sador's chapel, who charges each person that enters, for his 
seat, something like half a dollar. I think this was about 
the amount charged, though, not having before been aware 
of it, in the hurry of paying, when several persons were 
about entering, I might easily have made a mistake as to 
the exact sum. 

I add no more at present, but subscribe myself, &c., 

M. F, 



NO. X. 

Wood of Boulogne— Wellington's Army — Dueling— Military Events, &c.— Labienus — 
Normans — English — The Fronde — Revolution of 1789 — Russians and Prussians — 
British and Prussians — ^Revolutions of 1830 and ISIS — Coup d'Etat — Fortifications. 

Paris, Mai/, 1855. 

I SIT down to write you what I purpose to be a very brief 
letter. In the first part of this letter, I will give you a 
brief account of my visit to the Wood of Boulogne, and will 
then fill up the remainder of my sheet with some short ac- 
count of a portion of some of the military transactions that 
have, in ancient and modern times, occurred in connection 
with Paris and its environs. 

The Bois de Boulogne lies to the west of Paris, just be- 
yond the two villages of Anteuil and Passy. On the day 



AND THE BRITISH ISLANDS. 81 

when I visited this wood, I first spent some time in viewing 
a body of soldiery, which was about being reviewed in the 
Champ de Mars. I need not say that the spectacle was beau- 
tiful, for the French military always appear to advantage. Es- 
pecially did I admire a troop of cavalry of the Imperial Guard, 
all the soldiers belonging to which were mounted on beautiful 
Arab steeds. Indeed, the cavalry present was all very fine. 
There was one thing, however, that I remarked as seeming 
to me to come short of what I expected. When a portion 
of the cavalry, which had dismounted, was ordered to horse, 
it was frequently the case that, in mounting, they held each 
other's horses, while 'I had supposed that horses and men 
would have been so habituated to the exercise, that none 
would have thought of having recourse to any such expedient; 
each man preferring to make his way into the saddle, unaided. 
Then, leaving behind me the vast expanse of the Field of 
Mars, (which is about five furlongs in length, and between 
two and three furlongs in width,) with its wide avenues, its 
trees, and its sloping terraces, and, above all, with its huge 
and grand overshadowing edifice of the Parisian Military 
School, — a field the scene of so many brilliant fetes, — I 
passed over the Seine, and, entering an omnibus, soon 
reached the vicinity of the Wood. 

That beautiful grove is one of the greatest places of re- 
sort in the neighborhood of this great capital. It is beau- 
tifully laid out in walks, whose cool shades protect from the 
sun in the heat of summer. One thing, however, that de- 
tracts from its beauty, in my view, is the smallness of the 
trees. These are not larger than one meets with in the up- 
lands of the southwest of the United States, where the coun- 
try is liable to be burned over at recurring periods of no very 
long duration, and cannot, for a moment, be compared with the 
trees in the river-bottoms of the South, or in the forests of the 
Middle and Northwestern States. And this is the case, not 
merely with these woods, but with all the woods of France 
that I have seen, and I have seen somewhat of several of 
them ; and, among others, a little of the forest of St. Ger- 
main, — at whose trees I looked with considerable attention. 
Nor will the fact that, from July to September, 1815, the 
army of the Duke of Wellington was stationed there, — 
when it cut down such trees as answered its purpose for 
barracks, — entirely account for the smallness of the present 



Oii TRAVELS IN FRANCE 

growth, wsince forty years have elapsed since that time. Yet, 
with respect to the magnitude of these trees, one should re- 
member that all things are great or small by comparison. 
This wood is remarkable in several respects. It has been 
rendered classical by the frequent mention of it in numerous 
romances. Again, it has, at various periods, been the grand 
place of display on the part of the fashionable world, being 
at such times enlivened, to a very extraordinary degree, with 
beauty, wealth, and grace, and with the presence of gay 
equipages and horsemen. Again, it was long celebrated as 
a dueling-ground ; the crack of pistols, and the clash of 
steel, having as often awakened echoes among its morning 
solitudes, as in any other locality in the world. And again, 
it was through its main avenue that, in the days of simpli- 
city and credulity, pilgrims passed on their way to the old 
Convent of Longchamp, hard by, — a convent founded by 
Isabella, the sister of St. Louis, and in which she lived, died, 
and was buried, and in which two other princesses of France 
died and were buried, (Blanche, the daughter of Philip the 
Long, and Jeanne of Navarre.) 

I must now pass to some of the military events that have 
occurred in connection with this capital and its immediate 
vicinity ; to which I promised, when beginning this letter, 
I would make some allusion before closing it. 

The first military event in connection with Paris, of which 
we have any account, occurred while Julius Caesar was car- 
rying on his wars in Gaul, and while the town was confined 
to that island in the Seine now called La Cite, the town 
itself being then named Lutetia Parisiorum. On this occa- 
sion, after overcoming great difficulties, Labienus, one of 
Caesar's lieutenants in these wars, inflicted, on the south bank 
of the Seine, a severe defeat on the Parisii, whose capital 
Lutetia was. These things happened a little more than 
fifty years before Christ. 

Next, in or about the year of our Lord 359, it was here that 
that portion of the Roman army was lying, which, because 
commanded by the Emperor Constantius to march against 
Persia, rose in arms against him, and, electing their Gene- 
ral, Julian, head of the empire, in his stead, carried the 
newly-elected Emperor with drawn swords through the 
streets of the town, to the Field of Mars, where the trans- 
actions of the day were concluded by the soldiery being re- 
viewed. 



AND THE BRITISH ISLANDS. 83 

Xext, about a.d. 383, — when in consequence of his 
zeal against heathenism, Gratian had lost the affections of 
the army, while Maximus had ingratiated himself with it 
by his professed zeal for heathenism, — it was under the walls 
of Paris that that revolt occurred in the legions commanded 
by the former, which proved fatal to his life, but which ele- 
vated the latter, for a time, to the dominion of a good part 
of the Roman world. 

No military event, of any considerable consequence, in 
connection with Paris, occurred for more than four hundred 
and fifty years after the revolt against Gratian, till at length, 
in the year 845, the Normans sailed up the Seine and took 
the town, being induced to depart only by a bribe of seven 
thousand pounds weight of silver. And, forty years after, 
in 885, we find them again besieging it, and only induced 
to depart by another bribe of a large sum of money. 

Between five and six hundred years after these Norman 
invasions, we find it in the possession of the English, who, 
in 143*7, while the mild and gentle but irresolute Henry YI. 
filled the throne of England, were finally expelled from it. 

Something more than two hundred years later yet, we find 
Louis XIY. compelled to leave it in consequence of the civil 
commotions of the Fronde ; during which commotions a se- 
vere battle, between Marechal Turenne and the Prince of 
Conde, was fought, in the spring of 1652, in the eastern part 
of the city. 

From this time, no foreign invasion nor civil disturbances 
gave any great uneasiness to the Parisians till the revolu- 
tion of 1789, when their city became the theatre of innu- 
merable tumults, conflicts, and battles. Nevertheless, they 
did not yet see the smoke of the camp of a foreign enemy ; 
neither had such a sight been witnessed by them for more 
than three centuries and a half But, though in the times 
subsequent to 1789, they came to have at the head of their 
armies a military man as great as the world had ever seen. 
Napoleon Bonaparte, they at length had to subject them- 
selves to the humiliation not merely of beholding the camp- 
fires of alien and hostile armies from the towers of their 
churches and from the tops of their public edifices, but of 
h)oking on such fires kindled in their most magnificent 
streets and squares ; yea, of looking on the Cossacks even 
drying their dirtily-washed shirts on the iron railings of the 
Tuileries. 



84 TRAVELS IN FRANCE 

The French people had been carrying on hostilities with 
all the great nations of Europe from 1792, with only occa- 
sional interruptions, down to 1812; and in every war had 
been almost invariably successful. In this year their Em- 
peror marched into Russia at the head of the most superb 
army of soldiers that ever followed a single man. But France 
miscalculated the powers of hyperborean cold ; and though 
her legions were almost always victorious in battle, of 
400,000 men who went to Russia, not more than 50,000 
survived that one campaign. This was followed by the 
rising in arms against her of the nations of Europe, which 
had long been prostrate at her feet, so that 1814 witnessed 
a force of 1,208,000 grim warriors in the field to subdue her. 
At length did these myriads of bayonets cross her frontiers. 
And after numerous severe battles, fought with varied success, 
as early as March 24th a strong force of the invaders had 
reached to the northeast within eighty miles of her capital. 
In these circumstances, on the day just named, at the village 
of Fere Champenoize, a battle was fought in which the 
French under Marmont and Martier were totally defeated ; 
the Emperor Alexander being present with his guards. Six 
days after this, on the 30th, the Russians under Schwartzen- 
berg, and the Prussians under Blucher, amounting to 120,000 
men, had come quite close ; having kept in their advance to 
the north of the Marne and Seine. On the French side there 
were 30,000 men with 150 cannon. On the day named, a 
conflict took place. This conflict though severe was inde- 
cisive ; the Allies, however, were so far successful as to force 
the heights of Montmartre directly to the north of the city, 
which was carried by the Prussians ; while the Russians suc- 
ceeded in carrying to the E.N.E., the high ground covered 
by the Cemetery of Pere La Chaise. Then Paris capitulated, 
and the conquerors, — the Bourbons returning in their train, — 
took up their quarters in the most splendid streets and ave- 
nues of this proud capital. I myself have seen since I came 
hither, a huge fire burning in the Champs Elysees, kindled by 
soldiers, where during those times the Russians had one ; 
and this within the distance of two or three musket shots of 
the Tuileries. 

Soon the old Bourbon race were again expelled from 
France. Soon Napoleon had returned from Elba. Then, 
ere long, he had been defeated at Waterloo. And now, (a 



AND THE BRITISH ISLANDS. 85 

second time as it relates to the armies of the powers allied 
against France,) the British and Prussians marched upon 
the metropolis of their enemy. This time, instead of the 
north and east which had been strongly fortified, the city, 
which was defended by Davoust with 60,000 men, was threat- 
ened on the south and west. After some contests, and es- 
pecially after the failure of Vandamme, with 10,000 men, to 
secure possession of the village of Issy, (which lies only about 
one and a half or two miles south of the Champ de Mars,) 
Paris again capitulated. 

Since its second occupation by the Allies, this capital has 
been the theatre of two revolutions, — that of 1830, when 
Charles X. was overthrown, and that of 1848, when Louis 
Philippe was expelled from the throne. And since this lat- 
ter event there has also turned up a popular insurrection 
against the authority of the Republic which the lately suc- 
cessful revolutionists established ; and, besides, the coup 
d'etat of December, 1851, has taken place, in which Louis 
Napoleon defeated the Parisians and subverted the Chamber 
of Deputies, thus re-establishing the Empire. What next 
may be evolved by Providence in connection with the mili- 
tary history of Paris and its environs, no human sagacity 
can presume now to guess. One thing is certain, that should 
it ever be again attacked, it will be found capable of a very 
vigorous defence ; Louis Philippe having during his reign 
erected a very strong chain of walls, forts, bastions, and 
towers, extending all around it at the distance of a few miles 
from it, with barracks connected with them, capable of con- 
taining a very effective garrison. 

Yours, &c., M. F. 



86 TRAVELS IN FRANCE 



NO. XL 

Departure from Paris— Female Ticket Agent — The Eoad through the Cordon of Forti- 
fications— Amiens and Eiver Somme — Abbeville — Battle of Crecy — Boulogne — 
Hotel kept b}- a New Yorker — Caligula and Army — Claudius — Constantius Chlo- 
rus^Attila — Normans — Napoleon I., Camp, and Flotilla — Scheme of Invasion — 
Napoleon III., &c. — Old and New Towns — Squares — English Schools and Churches 
— Napoleon Column— Camp of 40,000 men, (visit to) — French Farming. 

Boulogne, 3Iay, 1855. 

Yesterday, after an early breakfast, I took my farewell of 
the Hotel de la Bourse, making my way to the depot of the 
Northern Kailway ; this depot being situated in the northern 
part of Paris, near the Barriere de St. Denis. Hence I took 
my passage to the ancient city from which I write this let- 
ter. One thing on which I may remark, is that the person en- 
gaged in supplying tickets was a lady, and this at one of the 
busiest railroad depots in the vast capital which I not long since 
left. And why should not women with you keep the books 
of merchants, as they very frequently do in the cities of this 
country, and transact such other business as their strength is 
equal to ? The consequence of this prevailing usage is that 
in the cities here women are much better paid, taking into 
view the general rate of wages, than in the United States. 
Perhaps I may mention, in connection with what I have just 
remarked, that in Paris a servant girl gets about five hun- 
dred francs per year ; a kitchen girl more ; and that some 
chamber-maids get (wages, and trifling sums from persons 
waited on, together,) as much as two thousand francs per 
year. 

In about three-quarters of an hour after having reached 
the railroad depot I was on my way, following at the heels of 
the iron horse. First, Montmartre was passed lying to the 
left ; then the enceinte, or enclosure, of Paris ; then the vil- 
lage of Saint Ouen, the ancient residence of King Dagobert, 
situated along the Seine at some distance to the left ; and 
next came a railway station which is quite near a small 
railway bridge over the St. Denis Canal, from which station 
there is a fine view of the Seine and its islets on the left, and of 
the Fort de I'Est and of the city of St. Denis on the right. 
Immediately after leaving this station behind, the train 



AND THE BRITISH ISLANDS. 87 

passed between St. Denis and the Seiae ; and then it rushed 
through between two strong fortifications, one near the bank 
of the river, and the other to the north of St. Denis, these 
fortifications being part of that cordon of strongholds (some- 
thing like twenty in number) that now encircles Paris. 

The two most important cities between Paris and Bou- 
logne are Amiens and Abbeville. Of both these cities I 
may say, from others, a few things. Indeed, I would have 
liked to spend some time in each, but the thing was incon- 
venient. Thus having only a sight of them, without any 
opportunity of personal inspection, I must depend in what 
I say, not on myself, but on other sources of information. 

Amiens was the ancient capital of Picardy and is the 
capital of the modern Department of Somme. It is situated 
about ninety miles from Paris, contains a population of about 
50,000 persons, stands on the River Somme, which is navi- 
gable up to it for barges of fifty tons, and, to the eye of the 
passing stranger, is a fine-looking city. Those familiarly 
acquainted with it describe it as distinguished for its old 
citadel built by Henry lY., for its literary and scientific in- 
stitutions, for its noble antique cathedral, for its museum, 
and for its industry and manufactures. Besides, it is a place 
that has given birth to several eminent men, as Peter the 
Hermit, (the apostle of the Crusades,) Ducange, and Delara- 
bre. Also in the history of days quite recent it is well known 
as being the city in whose Town-house, in 1802, the short- 
lived peace of Amiens was signed. 

Abbeville is about twenty-five or thirty miles from Amiens, 
lying below on the same river with it. It is a fortified town, 
is noted for its industry, and contains a population of about 
18,000. It was in the castle of this town that, about a.d. 
1064, Guy, Count of Ponthier, the lord of this region at 
that time, for awhile confined Harold, (afterwards the last 
King of England of pure Saxon blood,) who had fallen into 
his power in consequence of his shipwreck on the neighbor- 
ing coast. Another thing strongly associated, in the minds of 
the readers of English and French history, with this place, 
is the battle of Crecy, fought in August, 1346, about seven 
or eight miles to the north of it, on the Plain of Crecy, be- 
tween Philip YI. of France and Edward III. of England. 
In Abbeville, Phiiip and his army spent the night before that 
disastrous conflict, in which 40,000 Frenchmen were slain; 



88 TRAVELS IN FRANCE 

the English army being completely victorious, though in- 
conceivably inferior in everything, except courage and discip- 
line, to the French host in the field. Also, when mentioning 
the battle of Crecy in connection with Abbeville, I may re- 
mark that another great battle was fought sixty-nine years 
after not very far from it. I speak of the battle of A gin- 
court, fought in October, 1415, whose battle-ground lies 
about thirty miles to the N.N.E. 

Toward evening our train reached this city. With re- 
spect to the country through which we passed, I observe 
that it is fertile and well cultivated, though tame and lack- 
ing in picturesqueness. Indeed, I saw nothing that could 
contribute to bestow picturesqueness on the scenery except 
the numerous spires of the country churches, and the nume- 
rous windmills that, in the absence of water-power, ornament 
the hills on all sides and in all directions. Not a single 
mountain was to be seen in the whole distance ; while, for a 
considerable distance, in one part of the way, the ground is 
exceedingly low and even marshy. Having, toward evening, 
as I have just said, arrived at Boulogne, (in which I am now 
writing,) I soon found myself settled for what time soever I 
would chose to stop here, in an excellent hotel, kept by an 
American. This man told me that he had been born in the 
northeastern part of the State of New York, where his 
father had resided, but that about the time of the Revolu- 
tion in America, the family, of which he was a member, 
had passed to the County Kent in England, whence he 
had come over to Boulogne. He told me he had still 
many relatives in the State of New York, about whom he 
inquired; but, having never been in any part of that State 
except the city and its immediate vicinity, I could not give 
him any information in relation to them. I would remark 
that the only time, while in France, that I dined at a pub- 
lic hotel-table was here, several officers from the camp hard 
by (of which I will in the after part of this letter say some- 
thing) being present. 

This city I have taken the time and pains, as in the cases 
of Havre and Paris, and to some extent of Kouen, to exam- 
ine fully ; and I vdll continue to turn the beautiful weather, 
which the God of the seasons is now causing to smile on town 
and country, to good account, so long as I stay, which will 
not be very long. 



AND THE BlllTISH ISLANDS. 89 

Boulogne is very ancient. It has borne a variety of names. 
In the reign of Claudius, (which began about the middle of 
the first century,) as we learn from the geographer Mela, it 
was called Gessoriacum. Some time subsequent to this, 
about the middle of the second century, when the Greek 
geographer Ptolemy flourished, it bore the kindred name 
of Gessoriakic. And later still, about the beginning of 
the fourth century, in the time of the Emperor Constantine, 
it was known by the appellation of Bononia. It was for a 
long period the chief continental port of embarkation for the 
British coast, and was a chief Roman naval station. To go 
somewhat into detail with respect to the more important 
facts, and the leading personages, whose memory is associ- 
ated with its history. It was from its neighborhood that, 
about the year 55 e.g., Julius Caesar sailed to invade Bri- 
tain ; the port from which he took his departure on this ex- 
pedition lying about ten or twelve miles from it, northward. 
Ne'xt, about sixty years after, seven years after the crucifix- 
ion of the Saviour, it was on the heights close by this town 
that Caligula encamped an army of 100,000 Roman soldiers 
with the fruitless purpose of invading the barbarians of Bri- 
tain. It was on this occasion that the worthless Roman 
commanded his soldiers, while the signal of battle was 
sounded, to fill their helmets with shells from the sea-shore, 
rapturously exclaiming meanwhile, " This booty ravished 
from the ocean is fit for my palace and the Capitol." Next, 
it was from this harbor that Claudius — afterwards surnamed 
Britannicus — set sail, when, four years after, embarking for 
the island just named. We now pass over a long period, 
276 years, (during the lapse of which time it was the main 
port for the embarkation and the disembarkation of the 
legions passing to and fro between Gaul and Britain,) and 
come down to the reign of the Emperor Diocletian, when, to 
guard against the pirates of Germany, a powerful Roman 
fleet, under Carausius as admiral, was here stationed. These 
pirates had been in the habit of plundering the coasts of 
Gaul and Britain, and it was the duty of Carausius to pre- 
vent their robberies ; but instead of preventing them from 
robbing, he chose to intercept them when on their return 
home with their booty, thus enriching himself. To pun- 
ish this dishonesty the Emperor ordered tliat he should be 
put to death. Upon this, he rebelled, fortified Boulogne, 

7* 



90 TRAVELS IN FRANCE 

and retired to Britain with liis fleet. Britain he erected into 
an independent sovereignt}^ ; nor was he destitute of the 
means of defending his assumed power. It was in these 
circumstances that Constantius Chlorus, (father of Constan- 
tine the Great,) the Imperial General, laid siege to this city 
which he was able to capture only by putting a mole across 
the harbor ; a success that aided materially in the re-con- 
quest of Britain. Next, in the fifth century, Boulogne is 
said to have witnessed the presence of xittila, (the scourge of 
God,) and of his Huns, who were here successfully repelled. 
Next it was attacked by the Normans in the ninth century, 
who laid it waste. And next, after the great battle of Bou- 
vines, fought in the August of 1214, it had to submit to the 
mortification of seeing its brave lord, the Count of Boulogne, 
thrust by Phihp II., (who then filled the French throne,) 
into the Tower of Piron, in which he was confined with a 
great log fastened by a chain around his waist. 

Nor in times more modern than those in regard to which 
I have been writing, is this city unknown in history. It 
became incorporated by purchase, in the reign of Louis XI., 
(who reigned from 1461 to 1483,) with the territories of the 
national monarch ; previous to this time having, with the 
district dependent on it, been merely a countship. Between 
a dozen and a score years after this, about, we find it be- 
sieged by Henry YIL of England ; and, forty or fifty years 
later, we find it besieged and taken by Henry VIII., who 
only consented to give it up after eight years should have 
passed, and on the condition of having received a hundred 
thousand crowns a year during those years. From this time 
down to the occurrence of that stupendous event, the first 
revolution, it sank into almost historical oblivion. Then, 
however, in connection with the schemes of Napoleon, as 
Consul and as Emperor, for the invasion of England, it 
arose into vast importance. In 1801, an army of 100,000 
men w^as here assembled by him, and, at the same time, a 
vast flotilla of gun-boats was made ready by his orders, to 
waft across the thirty miles of channel separating France 
from South Britain, this vast military array. Nor were the 
British disposed to submit themselves passively to be invaded. 
Admiral Nelson attacked the flotilla with his fleet, to destroy 
it, and it was only after a fight of sixteen hours' duration 
that he withdrew from the harbor of Boulogne. Again, on 



AND THE BRITISH ISLANDS. 91 

the 16th of August, he renewed his attack with a vast fleet 
of boats in the night, and it was only after a conflict of many- 
hours' duration, maintained in darkness, with axes, cutlasses, 
pikes, pistols, and all other instruments of hand-to-hand fight, 
that in the morning he again retreated. These military and 
naval preparations having been put aside by the short peace 
of 1802, Napoleon, upon the resumption of hostilities in 
1803, established himself here again for a considerable time, 
devoting himself to the assembhng and organization of the 
greatest and most complete military expedition that ever 
had being. This expedition was also intended against Eng- 
land, and the preparations in connection with it were con- 
tinued unintermittingly till the August of 1805, when the 
whole affair came to a close. The force, which was to make *its 
way across the strait, was to consist of 150,000 men, 10,000 
horses, and 4000 cannon, these being intended to be ferried 
over in 2000 gun-boats; while an army equally powerful 
was to occupy the vacated camp of Boulogne as a reserve. 
The vessels assembled for the enterprise were moored at the 
quays within sight of where I sit, nine deep. Yet, amid all 
this assemblage of armed men and arms, such was the dread 
of British daring resting on the mind of the French Chief, 
that, to guard against night enterprises, each vessel was fas- 
tened to the shore by a strong chain. The success of the 
vast undertaking, the preparations in connection with which 
I have been describing, was supposed to depend on the turn- 
ing up of one of four contingencies. In the Strait of Dover, 
in summer, there are often dead calms of forty-eight hours' 
duration, in which large vessels cannot move, and it was 
believed that in one of these the flotilla might pass over. 
Again, it was thought that in one of the thick fogs of winter 
it might accomplish the enterprise. Again, it was calculated 
that it might safely put to sea upon some occasion when the 
English fleet had been disabled and scattered by a tempest. 
Or, again, it was conjectured that, by sending to the French 
fleets, in all parts of the world, sealed orders to rendezvous 
on a certain day in the waters contiguous to Boulogne, a 
temporary naval superiority might be obtained which would 
last long enough for the invading armament to reach the 
opposite coast. At the cost of a hundred gun-boats and ten 
thousand men, Napoleon conceived that in one or other of 
these ways the project of invasion was practicable. Yet, 



92 * TRAVELS IN FRANCE 

after all, lie never attempted to put it in execution. And what 
a scene must the country around this city have exhibited 
when the orders arrived for the breaking up of the vast camp ; 
one single hour sufficing to put the entire 150,000 men in it 
into motion, with their artillery and entire campaign equipage! 
From the breaking up of the camp formed against England 
down to 1840, this old town was abandoned to the most 
complete seclusion from the affairs of the great world. But 
in that year Louis Napoleon, now Emperor, (the son of the 
ex-King of Holland,) made at it a revolutionary attempt on 
France ; an attempt remarkable for little else, apart from the 
present celebrity of its author, but its calling forth a touching 
appeal by his aged father with a view to save his son's life. 
Also, it was here in the September of last year that the Bel- 
gian King, Prince Albert of England, and Napoleon III., 
(the Louis Napoleon of 1840,) held a very important friendly 
conference. I would also add that during last summer, in 
consequence of the cabals of Prussia, a large camp was 
here established; a circumstance well adapted to call up 
remembrances of the palmiest days of the first Napoleon. 

While I walk around the streets and about the harbor of 
this very ancient city, as I ramble along the roads and over 
the fields and high grounds in its vicinity, I am scarcely able 
to realize that I tread soil once trod by C«sar and Agricola; 
by the Emperors Caligula, Claudius, Severus, Constantius 
Chlorus, and Constantine the Great ; by Attila, and by Na- 
poleon ; and yet such you will perceive is the historical fact. 

The streets of a great part of Boulogne are quite narrow 
and very crooked. This, however, is by no means the case 
with regard to the new part of the town. But it has so hap- 
pened, in my ramblings, that I have almost always gotten 
into the old-fashioned streets. Of these some are very steep, 
yet they are generally substantially built. The things in the 
town, that are perhaps most worthy of notice, are two quite 
respectable-looking squares, ornamented with fountains ; a 
number of French-English boarding schools, in which there 
are many pupils from England ; a college, a museum, and 
an old feudal citadel. The old citadel, though there is not 
anything very grand or distinguished about it, is well worthy 
of being attentively looked at. The number of English boys 
who are, in this place, going to school, — and schoolboys can 
here at any time be readily distinguished by their dress, — is 



AND THE BRITISH ISLANDS. 93 

surprising ; though this is in part accounted for by the fact 
that there is here a resident English population so large 
that, for its accommodation, there are no less than six Eng- 
lish churches. 

I have walked out to see the column erected to Napoleon, 
to commemorate his vast project of invading England. It 
is about a mile from the city. It is 164 feet high ; and the 
Emperor, appearing to one standing on the ground as large 
as life, stands on the top of it, with his back to England 
and his face to Paris. From the hill on which this column 
stands, as well as from the lofty ground on which the upper 
town is built, the English coast is distinctly visible, though 
I could not see it : perhaps a slight haze in the air pre- 
vented me. I believe that it was from this place that it is 
recorded of Napoleon, that he looked across on the green 
hills of England. About two miles farther on is one part 
of the Camp of Boulogne. This camp at present contains 
40,000 men. But I ought to say that the Camp of Bou- 
logne is, in reality, two camps, one on each side of the city, — 
each of the tw^o being situated about three miles from it. 
That which I visited, (the one beyond the column to Napo- 
leon,) contains about 20,000 men; and the other, of course, 
about the same number. When I went thither the soldiers 
were marching out to engage in work in improving the 
roads; French officers always seeking to keep their men 
gently busy, both for the sake of health and of discipline. 
The men were in their fatigue dresses, and looked the very 
embodiment of quiet hardihood; — not large men, but bone, 
muscles, strength, and agility. The camp itself is laid out like 
a city ; it has long and very broad streets which, all along, 
have small houses on each side of them. Between the town and 
the camp are the quarters of the higher ofl&cers ; and these con- 
sist of a substantial and large building, or buildings, which 
look very plain, but which are in handsome order. The 
houses of the soldiers in the camp are mostly built of mud, 
and thatched, though still they seem — though quite small — 
very convenient and comfortaljle ; and they were erected by 
the soldiers themselves, who have not failed, in their con- 
struction, to shov/ the diversity of their ideas and tastes : 
some putting up mere shanties of the better sort, and others 
quite neat and comfortable cottages. In this camp the neat- 
ness, industry, and thrift of the French soldier appear to 



94 TRAVELS IN FRANCE 

great advantage. It is evident, if lie love fighting, that he 
also loves comfort. 

I have traveled not a little, on foot, by the roads, (which, 
I would here remark, are frequently paved in France,) and 
through the cultivated country around this city, and I must 
say that I have been impressed very favorably, in some re- 
spects, as it relates to French farming ; but, on this point, I 
will not say anything till I shall have seen the farming of 
England and Scotland. 

Yours, &c., M. F. 



NO. XII. 



Passage to England — Intercourse Between Trance and England — Polkstone — Bomney 
Marsh — Fai-ming — Hop-raising — Appearance of Country — View of Sydouham Crys- 
tal Palace — Hotel in London. 

London, May, 1855. 

My last letter was addressed to you from Boulogne, but 
you will perceive by the name of the place which I now put 
at the head of my sheet, that, since, I have changed both 
the city and country of my residence. I passed over the 
Channel to Folkstone this morning, the passage being made 
by our steamboat in between two and three hours. The 
weather was very fine. No one can conceive anything more 
beautiful than the gentle undulations of the sea, nor any- 
thing more pleasant than the moderate yet warm sunshine 
beating upon us. The vessel was filled with English, mainly 
of the aristocratic class, returning to their own country 
from France. The truth is, the inhabitants of no two 
States of the American Union have so much intercourse, 
it seemed to me, as the people of the opposite coasts of 
France and England. Having so lately stood on both these 
coasts, I cannot just now help, as I take a retrospect of my 
joarney, the recaihng of the language of Yirgil with regard 
to the people whom I have lately left, and, again, with re- 
spect to that people among whom I now find myself domi- 
ciled. In his days both nations were the very rudest barba- 
rians, and were supposed to dwell, the one at the extremity 



AND THE BRITISH ISLANDS. 95 

of the inhabited globe, and the other beyond that extremity. 
Of the dwellers in the district around Boulogne, then called 
the Morini, he speaks as if they lived at the world's jumping- 
off place, 

Extremique hominum Morini • ^ * ^ 

while the inhabitants of Britain he describes as a race of 
men disjoined from all others, 

Et penitus toto divisos orbe Britannos. 

But how" prodigiously have things changed since the Man- 
tuan bard penned the language quoted ! Now Britain and 
France are the centre of the civilized earth; and a nation 
equally civilized with either has grown up beyond the mys- 
terious waters of the Atlantic. And wdiat is now the com- 
parative position of the bard's classic land ? 

Folkstone, which is situated in the English County of 
Kent, contains a population of between six and seven thou- 
sand. It is five miles from Dover, along the coast toward 
the W.S.W. ; and is deservedly noted as the birth-place of 
Harvey, the discoverer of the circulation of the blood. I 
stopped there about an hour or an hour and a half, and 
then the train by Avhieh I was to travel was rushing onward 
toward the banks of the world-renowned Thames. The 
distance by railroad between it and London is about eighty- 
five miles; about sixty of the w^ay being through the County 
of Kent, and about twenty-five through the County of 
Surry. 

Not far from this town, from the top of the hills on which 
is the railroad, I had a fine view of the famed Romney 
Marsh. It had been pointed out to me before, ^vhile on the 
water crossing from France. A resident in the neighbor- 
hood described it to me as nearly twenty miles long by 
nearly fourteen wide ; but other accounts describe it as con- 
taining no more than fifty thousand acres; so that it cannot 
be, by any means, so large as this person supposed it to be. 
It lies about six miles from Folkstone, to the left of the 
railroad to London, and is secured against the sea by an 
immense embankment. This tract is noted for its rich 
sheep-pastures, and for its crops of extraordinarily fine 
white wheat ; as, also, the chalk-hills, from which I looked 
down and over at it, are celebrated for producing a fine 



98 TRAVELS IN FRANCE 

wsmall-sized red wheat. While speaking of wheat-producing 
lands, I would say that about Sandwich, about eighteen 
miles north from Folkstone, are said to be the best wheat 
lands in England. As to Romney Marsh. I would only 
further observe that it was not always the rich tract of land 
that at present it is. Originally it was a mere black swamp, 
with a little black river flowing through it; (that river up 
which, in the reign of Alfred the Great, the fleet of Hastings 
the Danish pirate, — a fleet so powerful, as historians tell us, 
that it amounted to two hundred and fifty vessels, — ascended ; 
when in said marsh he built an inaccessible fort, the secure 
receptacle, for many years, of the booty and plunder col- 
lected by him and his wild followers in their various success- 
ful marauding expeditions.) Capital, skill, and labor, ope- 
rating, combined, on that which contained the undeveloped 
rudiments of fertility, are what have made it the rich gem 
that all esteem it now to be. 

With respect to the country along the Folkstone and 
London Railroad, lying, as I have already said, in the 
counties of Kent and Surry, I observe that it is exceed- 
ingly beautiful ; the fields moderately large, smooth, and en- 
closed by quick-set hedges ; and the farm-houses and farm- 
buildings, and also the cottages of the laborers, well built 
and comfortable. One thing, however, that struck me very 
unfavorably, as I passed, was the very great number of 
malting-houses along the road. They seemed, without par- 
ticular pains, uncountable. From this we may infer that the 
temperance reformation here has either not been urged on 
the attention of the country people at all, or advocated on 
principles very slightly radical. I may mention with respect 
to Kent, that it is the great hop-raising county of England, 
considerably more than twenty thousand acres being devoted 
to this use ; which is between one-half and one-fourth of all 
the land allotted to this purpose in the entire area of South 
Britain. This county is also distinguished from other Eng- 
lish counties by the circumstance that the old Saxon custom 
of gavel-kind is still here kept up, the real estate of a parent 
being equally divided among his sons. The part of Surry 
through which the railroad passes pretty much corresponds 
in its appearance to Kent. 

At length, toward evening, the town of Sydenham, eight 
miles from this great metropolis, appeared in view, with its 



AND THE BRITISH ISLANDS. ■ 9t 

immense palace of glass far outstripping in vastness the 
Parisian Crystal Palace. And in an exceed in.s^ly brief time 
we were in the depot, not far from London Bridge. 

I soon, with my trunk, found my way to the hotel from 
which I write this history of to-day's travels ; taking up my 
quarters on the Southwark bank of the river, and not far 
from the far-known bridge that I have above named. I 
prefer some such place to any other, because I have learned 
from experience that there is a great advantage to a stranger, 
in a great city, in his residing near some noted place or ob- 
ject, as he is thus provided, when about rambling around, a 
something, should he lose himself, with which almost all are 
acquainted, for which he may inquire. Upon this account, 
quite as much as on any other, have I taken up my lodgings 
where I am staying. 

Yours, &c., M. F. 



NO. XIIL 



Extent of London to the New-comer — Crowding in some Streets — Traveling on the 
River — First Historical Notice Of — Saxon Capital — Charters — Boat on Thames — 
Tunnel — Excursion up to, &c. 

London, May, 1855. 

I WILL, in this letter, mainly refer to some of the things 
that first engaged my thoughts, or that first happened to me, 
after entering this vast metropolis. Sights are on every 
side, but some things make impression on a new-comer in 
preference to others. 

One thing that struck me very forcibly, when, after my 
arrival, I had come to move about through its various quar- 
ters, was the immense extent of the city; I mean of London 
taken in the most comprehensive sense of the word, and not 
merely of the city proper. Just think of a city containing very 
considerably more than two and a quarter millions of peo- 
ple, — almost all of whom are thrifty and prosperous, — and 
covering one hundred and twenty-two square miles. Soon 
after ray arrival I ascended to the top of the spire of St. 
Paul's, and in all directions was a vast unbounded expanse of 

8 



98 TRAVELS IN FRANCE 

brick and smoke. The vision, on every side, was bounded 
only by houses; — it was not anything, as far as the eye 
could reach, but slate or tile roofs, chimneys, spires, the 
masts of ships, or chimneys of steamboats, and, along with 
all, innumerable pillar-like clouds of smoke circling upward. 
Indeed, before me lay not merely a city, in the ordinary 
sense of this term, but a large province thickly crowded 
with dwellings, warehouses, dockyards, churches, mansions 
and palaces, and lanes and streets. 

Again, soon after entering London, I was struck with the 
crowds in some of the great thoroughfares. The throng 
poured along unceasingly. One, at first, would have sup- 
posed that it would soon have gone past; but, from morning 
till night, it was the same thing. This, however, is the case 
with only some of the streets. The busiest streets in Paris 
seemed comparatively empty beside the busy streets of Lon- 
don; — indeed, I know not anything like it except Broad- 
way, in New York; and even it is perhaps behind, as to 
crowds, some of the streets in London, especially those that 
lead to or from London Bridge. An idea of this crowding 
may be given by mentioning a single piece of statistics; 
that, every hour, on an average, without counting the my- 
riads of foot-passengers, thirteen thousand wheeled vehicles 
pass over this bridge, most of them being carts or heavy 
wagons. 

Again, another thing that early drew my notice, is the 
use which the Londoners make of their river. Their store- 
houses, unlike Paris, — where, through the whole length of 
the city, a street extends along on each side of the Seine, 
which is handsomely cased with stone, — are built on the very 
edge of the river; and thus no one can have a view of the 
Thames except when on it. But to compensate, in some 
degree, for this defect, and a very great eye-sore it is, it is 
covered with small steamers, starting every few minutes, and 
carrying passengers to each and every point for the merest 
trifle. The Thames is thus converted into a cool and agree- 
able avenue of one thousand feet in width, and a journey on 
it is certainly vastly more agreeable, cheaper, and more rapid, 
than in either an omnibus or a hackney-coach. 

As to the early history of this metropolis, now so great 
and so far-famed, I observe that it is mentioned, for the first 
time, in the Annals of Tacitus. Speaking of the revolt of 



AND THE BRITISH ISLANDS. 99 

the heroic but unfortunate Queen Boadicea, in the year of 
our Lord 62, he says " Suetonius, undismayed by this disas- 
ter," (the destruction of the Roman colony of Camalodunum, 
— now Maiden, — and the subsequent rout of the Ninth Le- 
gion,) "marched through the heart of the country as far as 
Londinum, a place not honored with the title of a -colony, 
but a main residence of merchants, and a great mart of 
trade and commerce. At that place he meant to fix the 
seat of war ; but, reflecting on the scanty numbers of his 
small army, and on the fatal rashness which had been dis- 
played by Cerealis," (the commander of the legion that had 
been routed,) "he resolved to quit that station, and, by giv- 
ing up one post, to secure the rest of the province. Neither 
supplications, nor the tears of the inhabitants, could induce 
him to change his plan. The signal for the march was 
given. All who chose to follow his banners were taken un- 
der his protection. Of all who, on account of their advanced 
age, of the weakness of their sex, or of the attractions of 
the situation, thought proper to remain behind, not one 
escaped the rage of the barbarians. The inhabitants of 
Yerulura, a municipal town, were in like manner put to the 
sword. * * * The number massacred, in the places which 
have been mentioned, amounted to no less than seventy 
thousand persons, all citizens or allies of Rome." 

After those convulsions had passed, the town was rebuilt. 
We know little, however, about it till after the Saxon Hep- 
tarchy had become merged in a single monarch, when it be- 
came his capital. 

At the Norman invasion, it was here also that, in imita- 
tion of the Saxon kings, William the Conqueror fixed the seat 
of his power ; building the Tower, and granting the city a char- 
ter yet in existence. Subsequently the First Henry revoked 
this charter ; but, while doing this, he granted a more liberal 
one, which is said to have furnished the model for Magna 
Charta. 

In the long and sanguinary wars of the Roses, — extending 
from 1452, when the Duke of York, having returned from 
Ireland, began to aim at political sway, or perhaps from 
1454, when Henry VI. took the field to restore himself to 
the supreme power, till 1485, when Richard III. lost his 
crown and his life in the battle of Bosworth, — the posses- 



100 TRAVELS IN FRANCE 

sion of this city, next to the throne, was the grand object of 
contest between the struggling parties. 

In the wars between Charles I. and the Long Parliament, 
the City of London was the chief support, in all fortunes, 
of the cause of the Parliamentarians. 

I woAild only further add that during all vicissitudes, from 
■ the times of the Romans to the present day, — in spite of 
fire and pestilence, — it has, with some few exceptional pe- 
riods, been, step by step, growing in extent, grandeur, and 
wealth, so that now it is the largest and most important city 
in the world. Indeed, it now contains an aggregation of 
wealth, and an amount of population, equal to those of all 
the large cities of the United States put together. 

I will take up the remaining part of this letter in giving 
you an account of an excursion that I took, on yesterday, 
on the Thames; in connection with this excursion, visiting 
the Tunnel, and then ascending the river to the parks in the 
Westminster end of the town. 

Taking my course, quite early, over London Bridge, and 
^ passing, as I had been directed, down the stone-steps on 
the lower side of this bridge, I engaged a Thames ferryman, 
- (he being almost, I believe, a last relic of the once numerous 
class to which he belongs,) to carry me to the Tunnel. This 
work is two miles below the bridge, and as the tide, which 
was against us, would in a short time be in our favor, we 
rowed along very leisurely, passing close by the Traitor's 
Gate of the Tower. From the river this gate, which was 
the entrance by which State prisoners were brought, in a 
barge kept for the purpose, into the fortress, has the appear- 
ance to the eye of a bridge. By it how many distinguished 
persons, in the days of ancient stern rule, were taken in to 
imprisonment and death ! Two ponderous water-gates 
opened, and the unfortunate man was at the mercy of the 
reigning monarch ; a hard fate when the government of 
England was a despotism, and when not anything else but 
a despotism was possible. But it was not the sole use of 
this gate that it should be the means by which access from 
the river should be had to the fortress. Tlie Tower was, in 
former times, encircled by a broad moat filled with water ; 
and the water necessary for this purpose was supplied from 
the Thames, by the narrow throat arched over, with respect 
to which I am speaking. Over this throat or gate, which 



AND THE BRITISH ISLANDS. 101 

is now walled up, stands a large square building of the reign 
of Henry III., called St. Thomas's Tower. Having leisurely 
surveyed these things, we passed slowly on. Then we passed 
close by St. Katharine's Dock, and next by the London 
Dock, instruments of commerce unsurpassed, — perhaps I 
ought to say unequaled, — in the world. 

Having arrived in the part of the river opposite the Tan- 
nel, we went ashore on the Surry side. Having made fast 
our boat and gone through a considerable distance of tough 
slime, we ascended the bank and entered an enclosure. 
Upon the payment of a penny, the visitor passes through 
a turnstile, with which is connected an index to count pas- 
sengers, to a place where a wide shaft descends, and, going 
down by circular stairs to the depth of a hundred steps, finds 
himself at one end of a double roadway of a thousand or 
eleven hundred feet in length, and lined with brick-work. 
Each one of the two parts of this roadway, which are only 
separated from each other by a strong supporting partition, 
is fifteen feet in height and twelve in breadth. Only one of ^ 
these parts has been put into a state fit for use ; nor is the 
other half of the roadway needed. I sauntered from one 
end to the other of the vast cylinder a number of times, and, 
during all the time I stayed, did not meet with a single 
human being passing through except a Chinaman. There 4 
were, in addition to myself and the Chinaman, the boatman, 
and several persons attending to stalls for the sale of fancy t 
articles, but all else was perfect stillness. The place is 
damp, and is said to be unhealthy. As a pecuniary specu- 
lation it is a total failure. On certain occasions, however, ^ 
vast multitudes have resorted to it. This was the case when 
it Avas visited by the Queen, and also when, in this subraa- ^ 
rine tube, a year ago, pony races were held. I would add, 
in respect to it, that this very difficult undertaking was be- 
gun by Sir Isambert Brunei, a Frenchman, in the March 
of 1 825, and that it was opened to the public in the same 
month of 1843. 

We now sought our boat to pass up the river, designing 
to go up as far as the Parliament House. On our way we 
witnessed a severely contested boat-race, the prize for which 
the contest was had being a very fine new boat. While 
ascending toward my point of destination, I took occasion 
to inspect the Custom-House, which lies between the Tower 

8* 



102 TRAVELS IN FRANCE 

and London Bridge. Thence I passed on up the river, un- 
der London Bridge, next under Southwark, then under 
Blackfriars, then under Waterloo, and next under the Sus- 
pension Bridge, and so at length arrived at Westminster 
Bridge, at the upper edge of which is the new Parliament 
House. Of this vast, splendid, and perhaps too elaborately 
decorated edifice, I will, in this place, barely say, that its 
front next the Thames, after the fashion of Venice, extends 
quite into the w^ater. 

Here, quitting the boat in which I had been rowed up, I 
passed in a direct line along the street running west from 
the bridge last named, and in a few moments was in St. 
James's Park. This is a beautiful green of between eighty 
and ninety acres, containing a fine sheet of water, in which 
are two islets covered with trees and shrubs ; while aqua- 
tic birds of all sorts (among these birds black swans ap- 
pearing conspicuous) sport on the liquid expanse. Di- 
rectly west of this park, and perfectly contiguous to it, is 
Green Park, of seventy acres ; keeping on through which, in 
the same general direction as before, by merely passing across 
the end of Piccadilly Street, I came to the edge of Hyde 
Park, of four hundred acres. It was now time to pause for 
a while. The weather was warm for England at this season, 
and in consequence of my multifarious ramblings I felt tired. 
I might, therefore, well seek rest for a brief moment, and So 
sat down in one of the seats provided for persons in circum- 
stances like my own. Close by where I happened to take a 
seat stands Apsley House, the town-residence of the Duke 
of Wellington. An equestrian statue of his father, the 
Iron Duke, stands on the street before the door, so that the 
house cannot be easily mistaken. Of course I looked at it 
very intently; associated, as it is, with the memory of a 
great soldier and statesman, and one of the most celebrated 
of historical persons. It is neither remarkable for its size 
nor its architectural beauty, but rather for its solidity and 
plainness. One of the wealthy merchants of the great cities 
of the United States would not Yiew it as more than a re- 
spectable home ; indeed, many of them dwell in larger and 
more showy mansions. Yet this mansion became the man 
who dwelt in it; an edifice, strong, handsome, plain, suffi- 
ciently capacious, and of solidity enough to sustain a can- 
nonade or to bear up under the rockings of an earthquake. 



AND THE BRITISH ISLANDS. 103 

But though its exterior is plain, its apartments and galleries, 
it is said, are beautiful and gorgeous. I now continued my 
journey, proceeding westward to the edge of Kensington 
Gardens ; (these being a vast expanse laid out in beautiful 
avenues, and which is three and a half miles around ;) and, 
having crossed by a fine bridge of five arches the artificial 
lake called the Serpentine, I thence set out on my return, by 
the nearest route, to the Park of St. James. St. James's 
Park has Buckingham Palace, a spacious and imposing edi- 
fice, and the residence of the Queen during several months 
of the year, on its western edge ; while St. James's Palace, 
an irregular and faded-looking brick building of the reign of 
Henry YIII., lies on the KN.W. of said park. This lat- 
ter palace is regarded as peculiarly adapted for the holding 
of drawing-rooms and for other occasions of display, and it 
is for such purposes that it is now used ; the Queen, « at such 
times, going with great pomp from her residence to it, and, 
after the levee or drawing-room has passed, back again. 
When such passings to and fro between the two palaces oc- 
cur, the way is lined with the guards, and the royal carriage, 
which makes the journey very slowly, is drawn by six horses 
richly caparisoned. Besides, a crov/d of course collects, 
which, a thing also of course, cheers her Majesty. 

Leaving behind me the parks and the royal palaces, I 
now passed through the Horse Guards to Whitehall Street, 
and there entering an omnibus soon made my way, not a 
little fatigued, to my hotel. 

Yours, &c., M. P. 



NO. XIY. 



Visit to St. Paurs — View of It — Monuments — Wellington and Nelson — Ascent of 
Dome — Size — Architect — Bell — Westminster Abbej' — Size — Age — Internal Aspect — 
Painted Windows— Chapels — Westminster Assembly — Koyal Vaults— Stone of Scone 
— Cchibrated Graves of Philosophers, Poets, Scholars, and Statesmen — Evening 
Religious Service. 

London, May, 1855. 

It is my intention in this letter to give you some account of 
my visits to St. Paul's Cathedral and to Westminster Abbey, 



104 TRAVELS IN FRANCE 

celebrated places to which I have recently gone. Of course 
no one would think of coming to London and leaving it with- 
out viewing these far-famed edifices, and of course I would 
not think of pretending to give you somewhat of an account 
of it and yet omit to say anything of them. 

Having arisen early and attended to the duties of the 
morning, I set out for St. Paul's. Passing over London 
Bridge to the city proper ; then by the monument erected, 
in 1677, not far from this bridge, to commemorate the great 
fire, (a dingy-looking pillar of two hundred feet iu height, 
and resembling, though much higher than it, Pompey's Pil- 
lar in Egypt;) then going for a short distance along King 
"William Street ; and then proceeding along Cannon Street, 
(which is the locality of the noted " London Stone," the sup- 
posed centre of the Roman roads in Britain, and answering 
to the gilt pillar erected, by Augustus, to be the centre of 
the roads of Italy, in the Forum at Rome;) having, I say, 
passed along these ways, I in a brief time found myself iu 
St. Paul's Churchyard, this being the name of the space in 
which the church for which I was seeking stands. 

The vast and beautiful Cathedral of St. Paul is situated, 
except as to the side of the city next the Thames, right in 
the heart of Old London; standing where a former very 
ancient cathedral had stood, — that one in which Harold, 
the last Saxon king, was crowned. It is built on a 
slight eminence, and of Portland stone, and is cruciform. 
Its main entrance is toward the west, and faces the end of 
that street known as Ludgate Hill. Let the observer step 
along Ludgate Hill a short way and then walk back toward 
the church, and of this main entrance he has a full view. Be- 
fore him are, rising from a wide platform, twelve Corinthian 
columns grouped by twos and twos. These, however, reach 
only to one-half the height of the edifice: at this height 
there is another platform which they support, and upon it 
are reared eight pillars which stand beneath a triangular 
pediment. Then at each extremity of this pediment, that 
is, on the northwestern and southwestern corners of the edi- 
fice, are two lofty turrets. Another thing of which the obser- 
ver, while standing here, has a fine view is the magnificent 
dome which is over the middle of the edifice, and which is 
surmounted by a lantern with a ball and cross. Leaving 
my stand-point on Ludgate Hill and passing along a por- 



AND THE BRITISH ISLANDS. 105 

tion of the space called St. Paul's Churchyard, I approached 
more nearly to the vast structure. One then has a more dis- 
tinct sight of the entablature on which, beneath the pediment, 
is represented, in relief, the conversion of the Apostle Paul. 
Then, going around the building, I entered it from the 
north. It was about being repaired, so that I had not an 
opportunity of inspecting, so thoroughly, its interior as I 
would have desired. 

After entering I first gazed upon the monuments which it 
contains. Among these are monuments to Dr. Johnson, 
who, I believe, was first honored with a monument in the 
building ; to John Howard, the celebrated Philanthropist ; 
to Earl Howe ; to Sir Ralph Abercrombie ; to Lords Nel- 
son, St. Yincent, Cornwallis, and Duncan ; to General Pic- 
ton ; to General Packenham, who fell at New Orleans ; to 
General Gibbs, who fell at the same time ; to Sir John 
Moore, who fell in Spain ; to Sir Joshua Reynolds ; to 
Sir William Jones ; to Sir Astley Cooper, and to others. I 
looked at the spot where in one of the aisles lie side by side 
the bodies of the Duke of Wellington and Lord Nelson. I 
also looked into the choir, where a simple marble slab in- 
dicates the grave of Sir Christopher Wren, the architect of 
the edifice. 

I next ascended to the whispering gallery which is at the 
bottom of the dome, and there listened to the usual vocal 
experiments made for the gratification of visitors. At this 
spot the diameter of the dome is one hundred feet. While 
here I was very strongly impressed with the vast dimensions 
and height of the structure above me. Men were engaged 
in repairing it ; they being only about half way up, while 
the spot where I stood was also high up, being at the base 
of the dome, — and yet they appeared to my eye no bigger 
than rabbits. I then continued to ascend till I reached the 
top of the dome. This is accounted one of the most remark- 
able stands of prospect in London. I looked around, but, 
though the day was clear, the eye could not reach the extent 
of the city. All around were a smoky atmosphere, and the 
roofs of innumerable houses mainly covered with tiles, though 
some roofs were covered with slate. Also, beneath was the 
silvery thread of the Thames, with its bridges, ships, and 
crowded little steamboats. Again, the old Abbey and the 
Parliament House, and in the other direction the monument 
of the great fire, and the spire containing those noted Bow- 



106 TRAVELS IN FRANCE 

bells within whose sound every one born is a Cockney, were 
to be seen. In addition to the things enumerated, I could 
in all directions fix my eye on various objects of world- 
wide celebrity. Having gazed around till I was tired with 
gazing, I then proceeded to examine the masonry beneath 
my feet. The huge stones are clamped together by masses 
of iron and cemented with lead. After having spent three- 
quarters of an hour on the top, a time long enough to gratify 
a reasonable curiosity, I engaged in the task of descending, 
which I soon accomplished. 

After my coming down I walked around and around the 
outside of the vast pile, gazing at the phoenix on the south 
front, — to which front the north one has a correspondence, 
. — with the motto "Resurgam ;" (these things having been in- 
tended to imply an allusion to the present church being in 
some sense a re-edification of a former one that had perished 
in the great fire ;) at the statues of the Twelve Apostles ; and 
at the soiled and weather-worn statue of Queen Ann, which 
stands before the eye an object peculiarly prominent. With 
respect to the dimensions of St. Paul's, I remark that its 
length from west to east is 510 feet, that the width of the 
west front is 180 feet, and of the building at the transept 
250 feet ; and that the height of each of the two clock tow- 
ers is 222 feet, while that of the dome and lantern is 404 
feet. 

As I said above. Sir Christopher Wren was the architect 
of this great edifice, the noblest of all Protestant temples 
of worship. He made his first commencement on the work 
in 16t5, and it was fully completed in It 10, when the queen 
(Queen Ann) and the two Houses of Parliament attended 
divine service together, in the new Cathedral. I would add 
that the great bell of St. Paul's, weighing 8400 pounds, is 
only tolled on the death of one of the royal family, of the 
Lord Bishop of London, of the Lord Mayor, and of the 
Dean of St. Paul's. 

The day, when I had completed my inspection of St. 
Paul's, was still young ; so I continued my walk, going 
along Ludgate Hill, then along Fleet Street, then through 
Temple Bar, (the only one of the gates of London still 
standing,) then passing along the street named the Strand, 
which is in a continuous line with the two streets spoken of, 
and which terminates in the large open area called (one part 



AND THE BRITISH ISLANDS. 10 1 

of it) Trafalgar Square, and (the other part) Charing Cross, 
and then proceeding along Whitehall and Parliament streets, 
(which streets also make with each other a straight line.) 
Having accomplished my journey through these streets, I 
now found myself at the entrance of Westminster Abbey, 
the spot for which I had been directing my steps. 

This celebrated edifice, which, after St. Paul's, is the finest 
building for ecclesiastical purposes in London, stands close 
by the Parliament House, being just on the opposite side 
of the street from it. It stands on the site of a ruined 
Saxon place of worship, erected by Sebert in the sixth cen- 
tury. A considerable part of it is very ancient, dating back 
to the reigns of Edward the Confessor, (a.d. 1050,) of Henry 
III., (1220-1269,) and of Edward L, (1272-130Y,) though 
it was never completed till the time of Sir Christopher Wren. 
As to size, it is somewhat about two-thirds as large as St. 
Paul's. Its towers, pinnacles, and numerous pointed arches, 
— all of these admirably proportioned and of very ponderous 
size, — give its exterior a very imposing effect. The edifice 
is cruciform, and eighteen huge fluted columns run along 
each side of the interior lengthwise, and ten columns across 
that part which corresponds to the cross-beam of a cross. 
The main body of the building, or the nave, is floored with 
stone slabs, on which, in many cases, the names of those who 
sleep beneath are cut. This part is seldom or never used 
but as a place of sepulture or promenade. The place in 
which divine worship is performed is within a railing in the 
space between the two ends of the transept. While visiting 
the Abbey I waited for an afternoon service, and it was con- 
ducted with great beauty and pomp. Where the service was 
performed is the same spot where the monarch is crowned. 
While waiting for the religious service, at which I was pre- 
sent, to commence, I could not help admiring the windows. 
There are no side windows ; but at one end of the main 
body of the Abbey, far up, are one large and two small 
windows, of painted glass, and at the other end, opposite 
these, also far up, three large ones and one small, while at 
one of the ends of the transept, in other words at one of the 
ends of the transverse part of the building, there are (high 
up) six painted windows, with again, at a considerable dis- 
tance above these, six others of painted glass, also, and, at 
the other end of said transverse part of the building, one 



108 TRAVELS IN FRANCE 

huge round (or rose) window of painted glass, very higli up, 
with six, whose glass is not painted, below it. By means of 
these various windows a light, gloomy, but adequate to all 
necessary uses, is shed into the body of the spacious pile. 

During my visit, I as a matter of course went around the 
chapels. The first of these, entering from the Poet's Cor- 
ner, that is visited, is that of St. Benedict. Then comes 
St. Edmund's, and after it St. Nicholas. But vastly more 
interesting is that one which is called after Henry YII. 
The ascent to it is by steps of black marble; and its gates 
are of brass, and are noted at once for their antiquity and 
workmanship. It is 115 feet in length and 80 in width, 
and is in the form of a cathedral with nave and side aisles. 
Its windows are of painted glass, and have each a white 
rose in them, the badge of the party of the House of Lan- 
caster; the party whose success elevated Henry YII. to 
the throne. It was in this chapel that the celebrated West- 
minster Assembly of Divines came together, in July, 1643, 
under the auspices of the Long Parliament. Also, it is 
beneath it that the royal vault is situated. And in various 
parts of it the remains of numerous royal persons, who 
were not buried in this vault, are deposited. Here lie the 
heartless but long-headed Henry YII, and his queen, under a 
noble but soiled, and, in its decoration, barbarian -like tomb. 
Here lies the body of Queen Elizabeth, while a few feet from 
her tomb is that of Mary, Queen of Scots, who was brought 
here from Peterborough a quarter of a century after her 
execution. Here is the dust of the dissolute Charles II. 
Here repose the illustrious William III. and his consort. 
Here lie Queen Ann and Prince George. Here are, as has 
been vaguely supposed, the bodies of Edward Y. and his 
brother. And here rests the young Duke Montponsier, 
(son of Louis Philippe of France,) who was interred in this 
spot on his death in England, in 180t. Here, therefore, one 
treads on the dust of not a few of this world's powerful 
and great. I next passed to the chapel which takes its title 
from Edward the Confessor. In it is St. Edward's Shrine, 
executed in the reign of Henry III., to which at one time an 
extraordinary sanctity was supposed to belong. It was 
while praying before this shrine that Henry lY. swooned, 
so that lie was borne to an adjoining chamber, where he 
died. In this chapel lie Editha, the Confessor's Queen, 



AND THE BRITISH ISLANDS. 109 

Henry III., and the warlike Edward I. Here, also, are the 
coronation chairs, and that history-famed stone which is put 
beneath the royal seat while the king is about having his 
head encircled with the diadem : a stone asserted to have 
been carried from Ireland to Argyleshire, in Korth Britain, 
by Fergus, the son of Ferchard, which was removed thence 
by McAlpin, to Scone, and which was placed by Edward I. 
in this abbey. The coronation chairs are quite old and 
rohgh in appearance, but when used on state occasions they 
are richly covered with the finest cloth, and highly orna- 
mented. And the stone referred to is the one on which the 
Kings of Scotland were anciently crowned, and which was 
supposed to have an influence in giving perpetuity to the 
Scottish throne. It is worthy of being noted that, in for- 
mer times, the Duke of Carinthia, the Kings of Sweden and 
of Denmark, and the princes that reigned over the provinces 
of Ireland, were initiated to their sovereignties in an analo- 
gous manner, to wit, on a stone. There are various other 
chapels, — all abounding in monuments. Of these I will men- 
tion St. Paul's, in which lie the mortal remains of the great 
Irish scholar and reformer. Dr. James IJsher, and in which 
also is a monument to James Watt, the improver, or rather 
the inventor of the steam-engine. The chapels are situated 
beyond the transept toward the east. I would add to what 
I have said, that I have omitted, as I perceive, one tomb in 
them, among the most worthy of mention, — that of the almost 
invincible Henry Y., the famed conqueror of France, who lies 
buried (a strange contrast) beside an old Saxon King whose 
name even is now unknown. 

I now set out to go around the various graves of the dead, 
not buried in the chapels, and to look at the innumerable 
monuments with which the main area of the old abbey has 
at various times been enriched. The inscriptions are usually 
on marble tablets fixed to the wall, opposite to the spot 
where the body rests, in memory of the place of whose sepul- 
ture the particular inscription has been put up. I was sur- 
prised to observe that many of the old inscriptions were 
partly in Hebrew, showing the familiarity of the English 
mind at one time with Hebrew learning. Among the per- 
sons buried in this place, to whom monuments have been 
reared, I will barely refer to a few. First, Sebert, King of 
the East Saxons, who died in- 616, with Athelgoda, his 

9 



110 TRAVELS IN FRANCE 

Queen, is interred here, on tlie south side of the choir, where 
his monument ought not to be overlooked by the stranger, as 
being that of the man who, as I have ah'eady said, first reared 
a place of worship on tli6 site of the present ecclesiastical 
edifice. On the other side of the choir from him, lie interred 
Aymer de Yalence, Earl of Pembroke, and his Countess, and 
Edmund Crouchback, Earl of Lancaster, whose old monu- 
ments, repaired in recent days, are worthy of attention. Walk- 
ing away from these old graves, I wandered about in various 
directions. One place of interment that attracted considera- 
ble attention from me was that of the Right Honorable Alrae- 
ericus De Courcy, who died in 1119, aged 57, and who, we 
are told in his epitaph, was a descendant of John De Courcy, 
Earl of Ulster, the stalwart Anglo-JS'orman Irish* lord, who, 
in the early history of the Anglo-Norman race in Ireland, had 
the privilege conferred on him of wearing his hat in the pre- 
sence of the sovereign. I walked to the other side of the ab- 
bey, and beneath my feet was the corse of a man well known 
in American history, the unfortunate Major Andre. Many 
years ago I was acquainted with a lady who was not far 
from being his nearest blood-relation, and, on this account, 
as well as on account of his youth, his accomplishments, and 
his unhappy premature fate, felt a deep interest in the 
grave over which I was standing, and in the tablet to his 
memory, on which I was gazing. I then, after wandering 
around for some time, walked up the area in the direction of 
the transept, and before me was a tablet erected in honor 
of no less a personage than Sir Isaac Newton. For awhile 
I could not think where was his grave, but one of the men 
who have the charge of the edifice, sitting close beside where 
I had stopped, I asked him where it might be. He replied, 
"Look beneath your feet." My feet were nearly over the 
initials of the name of the great mathematician and philoso- 
pher, and his now crumbled dust was directly beneath the 
slab which was upholding my body. Leaving behind me ail 
that is mortal of that 

■3«- ^- * << Pure intelligence, ^vhom God 
To mortals lent, to trace liis boundless work 
From laws sublimely simple," 

I then proceeded to the north transept, where sleeps together, 
near the northern door of the church, a number of Britain's 
great statesmen and orators. There, in the centre of the 



AND THE BRITISH ISLANDS. ' 111 

aisle, is a slab with C. J. F. inscribed on it. This is 
all that marks the last resting-place of the great Parlia- 
mentary leader and orator, Charles James Fox. Under the 
flagging close beside him is the grave of his great rival, 
William Pitt. Then, near Pitt's six feet of earth, in a like 
narrow space, sleeps his greater father, the elder Pitt, Earl 
of Chatham. Then, hard by, rests Lord Mansfield. Then, 
in the same vicinity, lies thrice-glorions Grattan. Then, 
just at hand, reposes Castlereagh, a man as manly and chival- 
rous as any other man of his own or any other age. Then, at 
the feet of the younger Pitt, and separated from him only by 
a nine inch wall, moulders the body of George Canning. 
While in companionship with these, the mortal part of Wil- 
liam Wilberforce awaits the resurrection of the just. 

Having lingered awhile amid this small but extraordinary 
group of sleepers who here take their long repose, I pro- 
ceeded to the south transept where is what is called the 
"Poets' Corner." 

In this small spot is collected the dust of as many men of 
genius as in any other place of even much larger dimensions 
in any part of the earth ; men who owed their celebrity not 
to rank, birth, fortune, or rabble popularity, but to their own 
labor performed in connectian with the enkindlings of that 
glorious spark which the God of Nature had communicated 
to them, when giving them being ; men, many of whom lived 
in poverty and dependence, but who, nevertheless, have im- 
mortally linked their names with their land's language. 
Here, first of all, lies entombed, the oldest of the great Eng- 
lish poets ; he so felicitously described by a more modern 
bard, as Fancy's 

Vr =K * "Ancient master, laughing sage, 
CiiATJCEii, whose native manners- paintiug verse 
AVell-moi'ulizcJ shines, through the Gothic cloud 
Of time and language, o'er his genius, thrown." 

Uut to be brief, — here are buried, Spenser, Cowley, Dryden, 
(who lies side by side with Chaucer,) Addison, Gay, John- 
son, Sheridan, Campbell, and some others famous in the 
poetic world. AVliat a galaxy of luminaries that can never 
cease to shine as long as the world lasts ! But even in this 
spot, over which Death, with his bat-like wings outspread, 
visibly broods, and which is solemnly dedicated to literature 



112 TRAVELS IN FRANCE 

and religion, one's serious meditations are marred by at least 
one inscription little in consonance with the awful dignity 
of these honored graves. I refer to the epitaph over Gay, 
which ought never to have been admitted within those walls. 
It runs thus : 

"Life is a jest, and all things show it: 
I thought so once ; but now I know it." 

Most certainly life is more than a bit of jocularity, however 
men may talk of it, and that the countless dead beneath our 
feet have long since abundantly learned. Life is the time of 
gracious probation, granted to fallen man for repentance ; 
in the oft-repeated and trite words of a pious poet, 

"Life is the time to serve the Lord, 
The time to secure the rich reward." 

But the Poets' Corner, how rich soever it may be in the 
graves of celebrated bards, is far from containing all the 
graves of distinguished British poets. Milton, Shakspeare, 
Pope, Parnel, Gray, Goldsmith, Beattie, Young, Chapman, 
Falconer, Shirley, Cowper, Burns, Byron, Scott, Shelley, 
Moore, and many others, all rest in other places ; some in 
other sepulchral areas in London, others in more distant 
burying-grounds, and one beneath the sea. I may mention 
that there are monuments erected in this world-famed corner 
to many of these here spoken of as not being buried in it. 

At length the hour for evening service arrived, for which 
I had been, for a considerable time, waiting ; which time I 
spent, partly in sitting to allay fatigue, and partly in viev/ing 
the noble window^s and the numerous lofty columns. The 
service (I need scarcely say, after the form of the Anglican 
Church,) was held in the place where so many monarchs had 
been crowned. It was chanted or intoned (I am not clear 
as. to which is the proper expression) by a choir of about 
twenty-four persons, some of whom were old men and others 
boys. There were, however, only a few dozen persons pre- 
sent besides the members of the choir. Those who serve in 
such choirs are selected for the musical delicacy of their ears, 
and the tunableness and richness of their voices. It may, 
therefore, be supposed that the solemn music made the aisles 
and arches, the tombs and chapels, of the old abbey, echo 
back exquisite and awe-inspiring sounds. 



AND THE BRITISH ISLANDS. 113 

Religious services being coDcluded, I now set out for my 
lodgings, entering the first vehicle suited to my purpose 
which I met. I subscribe myself yours, &c., 

M. F. 

P. S. — It is worth the recalling to mind, in connection 
with the account I have given you of Westminster Abbey, 
that in it, to the west of the Sanctuary, stood Caxton's 
Printing-press, (still to be seen,) erected in 14H, which was 
the first printing-press that existed in Great Britain. Thus 
did the printing-press and the coronation chairs, the types 
and the crown, the crowning archbishop and the printer, 
and the monarch and the publisher, once here neighbor, 
each the other's peculiar locality, at the distance of only a 
few feet. 



NO. XY. 



Situation of tlio To\v.3r— Portcullis — Bloody Towei- — Wlaite Tower — Council-Room of 
the 01(1 Kings — Raleigh's Prison — Equestrian Figures in Mail Armor — Royal Insig- 
nia — The Tower as a Stronghold — Its Ancient Royal Palace — Once a Prison — King 
Baliol — Wallace — Bruco — John of France, &c. — Collections of Armor — Heading- 
Block and Axe — St. Peter's — The Dead in its Vaults. 

LoNDOx, June, 1855. 

I PURPOSE, in this letter, to give you an account of my 
visit to a place of great interest, — the Tower. 

This hoary edifice, once the grand metropolitan strong- 
hold and castle of the old kings, and now noted for its vast 
collection of ancient arms and armor, stands just without the 
city proper, eastward, on the north bank of the Thames. 
Thus it has this river flowing along its southern edge, while 
it has Great Tower Hill (now paved and built over) to the 
W.N.W. of it, and an open paved space, of considerable 
extent, stfetching all around it, outside, except on the side 
next the river. It stands in a hollow ; Tower Hill, and the 
open ground on the north of the Tower, being a considerable, 
though not very steep acclivity overlooking it. But while, 
as to these places, in a hollow, it stands on a slight elevation 

9* 



114 TRAVELS IN FRANCE 

as to the bank of the Thames. The ground contained within 
the outer wall, which encloses the keep or citadel, is twelve 
acres and five roods in extent, and is shaped somewhat like 
an octagon, or decagon, cut off at a little beyond the middle 
by the water. Within this outer wall is a second one, which 
is only distant about the width of a street from the one out- 
most. Around all, at the outside base of the outmost wall, 
is a deep moat of nine hundred and ninety yards in length, — 
this moat having been formerly supplied with water through 
the Traitor's Gate, but being, from motives of salubrity, kept 
dry for the last twelve years. 

Outside the walls of the Tower there is a small office or 
lodge for the accommodation of a guard or porter ; to this 
house I first went, where I was supplied with a ticket of ad- 
mission. After a short interval I was led by one of the 
subordinate officers, over a stone bridge defended at each 
extremity by a tower, into the space within the outer wall. 
After passing along the open ground lying in the direction of 
the river bank, we came to the inner end of the tunnel or pas- 
sage from the Traitor's Gate. Here, between us and the river, 
was the moat, and beyond this a wharf of forty or fifty yards 
in width, mounted with some cannon. After looking around 
for a little, we passed, by a large and noble gateway, into 
the space within the inner wall. This gateway is judged to 
have been erected about 132t, in the reign of Edward III. 
There were formerly attached to it two portcullises, but only 
one now remains. It is an iron grate with spikes below, and 
moves up and down before the gate in grooves, like a common 
window-sash. Over this gateway is a rectangular tower, 
known as the Bloody Tower, and said to be the site of the 
deaths of Edward Y. and his brother in 1483. 

We now proceeded to the building in the centre of the 
fortifications, Called the White Tower. It was erected by 
Gundulph, Bishop of Rochester, for the Conqueror, and was 
begun by him about 10*79 or 1080. It is a magnificent spe- 
cimen of Norman architecture, being 116 feet from north to 
south, 96 feet from east to west, 92 feet in height, and the* 
external walls being 15 feet in thickness. This edifice con- 
tains, on the second story, what was St. John's Chapel, 
(once the royal chapel,) one of the finest extant specimens 
of the architecture of the Normans, and, on the upmost floor, 
what was the council chamber, in which the old kings held 



AND THE BRITISH ISLANDS. 115 

their councils, when holdicg their court in the Tower. On 
the ground floor is an apartment called Queen Elizabeth's 
Armory, on the north side of which is a cell of ten feet long 
and of eight wide, formed in the thickness of the wall, and 
receiving no light but from the entrance ; in which, it is told 
us, Sir Walter Raleigh was confined, and in which, we are 
informed, he wrote his History of the World. This armory 
contains all conceivable arms that were formerly in use. 
Alas ! for the fertility of men's brains in inventing, and the 
cunning of their hands in fabricating, weapons of destruc- 
tion 1 Against the southern wall of the White Tower was 
erected, about thirty years ago, the Horse Armory, in which 
are also exhibited an inconceivable number of articles that 
were once in use for defence or oifence ; especially are the 
armed equestrian figures, — the line of these beginning with 
the reign of Edward I. (1272,) and ending with that of 
James II. (1683), — worthy of inspection, at once for the 
perfectness of their equipment, and for the skillfal classifica- 
tion, according to periods, of their armor ; the various suits of 
armor worn by them being either fac-similes of that worn by 
the kings and other persons whom they represent, or that 
identical armor itself. And just outside this armory is a 
collection of ancient cannon well worthy of attention. 

We next proceeded to the new Jewel-House, which stands 
in the northeast angle of the inner wall. Here are kept the 
royal insignia ; formerly these were kept in that building 
called the Martin Tower, but in 1842 the present jewel- 
house was completed for their reception. They are exhibited 
by a woman, and are under a lofty dome-shaped iron railing, 
through the interstices of which the spectator views them. 
Here are no less than five crowns, to wit : that of St. Edward, 
the last of the Saxon line of kings who sat on the English 
throne ; that which was made for Marie D'Este, the second 
wife of James the Second; that of the reigning sovereign; 
that of the Prince of Wales, the heir apparent; and that in 
reserve for a queen consort, when such a person is to be 
crowned. The crown of Queen Victoria is worth one and a 
quarter million of pounds sterling. It is simply a cap of 
purple velvet, enclosed with hoops of silver, and surmounted 
by a ball and cross ; these being frosted with brilliants. Seve- 
ral of the precious stones which it contains are of vast value, 
one the ** inestimable sapphire," (which is two inches long, 



116 TRAVELS IN FRANOE 

and thus of the size of a small egg, and of a blue like heaven,) 
and another, the heart-shaped ruby, that had once, it is 
affirmed, and no doubt truly, belonged to the Black Prince ; 
also to it belongs, if I mistake not, the celebrated Eastern 
diamond, the Kohinoor. I could scarcely, before I saw it, 
have imagined that a cap for a human head could possibly be 
worth so much money. But the regalia include other things 
in addition to the crowns. Here no less than five sceptres 
of gold, and one of ivory, are to be seen : four of these are 
still used in the coronation of a king and his queen ; the 
other two, the ivory sceptre which belonged to the second 
queen of James II., and a richly wrought golden sceptre 
which belonged to Mary, the consort of William III., are 
preserved, not for use, but as royal property. Those 
which are used on coronation occasions are the golden staff 
of Edward the Confessor, which is four feet and seven inches 
in length, and which, at such times, is carried before the 
monarch ; the royal sceptre which, when the diadem is put 
on his head, is put into his right hand ; the sceptre with the 
dove, which is put into his left hand ; and the queen's sceptre, 
which is smaller, but more beautiful than the others. All 
these golden staffs are richly set with diamonds and precious 
stones. In addition to these crowns and sceptres are to be 
seen, among the royal insignia, the curtana, (or pointless 
sword of mercy,) the sword of temporal justice, and the 
sword of ecclesiastical justice, which things, at coronations, 
are carried before the sovereign. I would remark that none 
of the things which I have enumerated, though some of 
them bear names that go back to times before the Norman 
line of kings ascended the throne, are more ancient, except 
as to their names, fashions, and uses, than the reign of the 
Second Charles ; all the things belonging to the ancient re- 
galia, — with the exception of some jewels and of a single 
small article, — having, during the Commonwealth, been lost. 
The value of the entire regalia amounts to the vast sum of 
about three millions of pounds sterling.* 

Having gr.atified my curiosity in the Jewel-House, I now 
proceeded, a second time, to pass through and inspect the 
vast magazines of antiquated arms and armor that have been 
brought together in those two apartments which were spoken 

* Hanover claims jewels of these, valued at a million sterling, and, 
it is said, rightfully. 



AND THE BRITISH ISLANDS. lit 

of above. And here I would remark that strangers take their 
look at these things before being taken to visit the spot in 
which the regalia are kept, but that occasionally a second 
view is indulged. The two apartments in which the old arms 
are mainly kept, as I need scarcely to repeat, are called Queen 
Elizabeth's Armory and the Horse Armory. Through both 
of these I passed slowly, examining very attentively most 
things that came under my view. And one thing I would 
here observe, though somewhat out of place, that the build- 
ings in the enclosed area of the Tower were, from the ear- 
liest times, the chief depository in the kingdom of all things 
necessary for military uses. But into the apartments con- 
taining- modern arms and the models of fortified towns, 
strangers are not admitted, except they have obtained a 
special order for the purpose. 

The Horse Armory (which is very large, being 150 feet 
in length and 34 in breadth,) and Queen Elizabeth's Armory 
are, both of them, not merely filled, but fully filled, with the 
most interesting specimens of old armor and old weapons. 
The fact is, no one can conceive how rich they are in such 
antiquities except the person who has examined their vast 
stores in detail. Of the numerous articles which they con- 
tain I do not pretend to mention more than a very few. 

I saw in them a complete suit of ancient Greek armor in 
fine preservation, which had been found in a tomb at Cumas, 
consisting of a winged helmet, a breastplate, a backplate, and 
all other things, (or, at least, almost all other things that 
belong to a suit of armor,) even to the dagger in its case. 
In them there is to be seen an Etruscan helmet of bronze; 
there are the leaden pellets of Arcadian slingers, found in 
the ancient Greek fortress of Samos, in the Island of Cepha- 
lonia ; there is a Roman spear-head ; there is a variety of 
old Celtic and ancient British axes, swords, and spears of 
bronze, — one of the battle-axes having been found near the 
celebrated battle-ground of Hastings, and being supposed to 
have been leit there during tlie military operations in the 
vicinity, between William the Conqueror and Harold ; there 
is a very old Irish weapon called a spaath, found near the 
Giant's Causeway ; there is that once formidable weapon, 
the old English crossbow, in use in the chase in the time of 
the Conqueror, and, from the time of Richard I., in use in 
war ; there is the morning-star and holy-water-sprinkle, a 



118 TRAVELS IN FRANCE 

ball of wood armed with spikes of iron, and fixed to the end 
of a long pole ; there are, almost perfectly sound in appear- 
ance, two bows of yew, recovered, in 1841, from the Mary 
Rose, after having been three hundred years in the sea; 
there is the glaive, a sword with a hollow handle and fixed 
on a pole. Besides, there are the military flail, the spear of 
the cavalry, and the pike of the infantry. 

Again, in these depositories of ancient armor and wea- 
pons, as it relates to defensive armor, I saw articles of almost 
every conceivable variety of shape and use. There is to be 
seen in them the buckler, with and without the sword-breaker, 
that is, concentric hoops arranged to break, or at least en- 
tangle, the pointed weapon that may come into contact with 
it; there is the pavoise, that is, a huge- shield carried by the 
serf, in the middle ages, in front of his lord, for their mutual 
protection ; there are Saracenic and Indian armor, chain 
mail armor, plate armor, and mixed chain and plate armor, 
and, in striking contrast to these, the rude but strong hempen 
armor of the South Sea Islander ; there is even a suit of 
chain mail armor which was worn by Bajazet, the proud 
Turkish emperor that was defeated and taken prisoner by 
Tamerlane, in 1402 ; also, there is the defensive armor of 
the cuirassier of modern times, to wit, the strong and well- 
hammered cuirass; but I would remark that even it is not 
proof against a musket at a close distance, as I have seen 
in those armories, a cuirass of the best workmanship and 
temper, from the field of Waterloo, which had been perfo- 
rated, with evident facility, by a musket ball. 

Again, in addition to the things enumerated, there is, in 
the Tower armories, a considerable quantity of combined 
arms of various kinds ; old weapons of offence and armor of 
defence having been united with fire-arms, after the dis- 
covery of gunpowder, from a natural predilection for the 
old arms, as old and tried friends, in preference to an entire 
dependence on the means of aggression and defence, that 
had lately come into use. Nor are the men of our day want- 
ing in such feelings as also impel them likewise to combine 
kinds of arms that are distinct, with a view to greater effi- 
ciency in certain circumstances. Most of the specimens of 
combined armor in the Tower are quite old, though some 
of them are modern. Among them are a target, with a gun 
in the centre, and a grated aperture for taking aim ; (of the 



AND THE BRITISH ISLANDS. 110 

date of 1509-46 ;) a row of targets of about the same age, 
the reign of Henry YIII. , each having a small gun attached 
to the centre, this gun to be loaded at the breach ; a pole- 
axe, (or axe on a pole,) combined with a gun ; a two-handed 
battle-axe united with a gun ; a holy-water-sprinkle com- 
bined with three guns; a mace-cannon with four barrels, 
which was carried at the saddle-bow ; a hand-cannon with 
long narrow thrusting- sword ; a combined sword and pistol 
of modern Indian manufacture ; and four Indian shields, 
one of these having four percussion pistols belonging to it, 
and being of quite recent manufacture. Also, along with 
the specimens of combined arms enumerated, I would men- 
tion a cresset combined with a spear ; the cresset, if any ex- 
planation be needed, being such a lamp as in former days 
was carried by a camp-watch, and consisting chiefly of a 
bowl with a spike of iron in the centre, around which spike 
a rope covered with pitch was wreathed. 

I will now take you with me for a moment, to take a near 
view of Saint Peter's Chapel, the place of worship belonging 
to the old stronghold which is the subject of my letter ; 
and in going thither we pass over a piece of ground on 
which, in former times, those who were executed within the 
Tower walls were beheaded. On it stood, when I was pass- 
ing over it, as if freshly brought forth for use, the heading- 
block and axe, both of them being in perfect order for the 
doing of their bloody work, and that though unused since 
1146, when, on the neighboring Tower Hill, the Lords Bal- 
merino, Kilmarnock, and Lovat, were decapitated. They 
do not ordinarily stand on that spot, but, for some particu- 
lar reason, they were there at the particular time of which I 
speak. The block has a place adapted to the neck so that 
the back part of it may be fully exposed, — the person to be 
executed being in a kneeling position, — and the axe bears 
resemblance to the large cleaver of a butcher. St. Peter's 
is, by no means, an imposing edifice, being not anything 
more than a plain stone building. It is, however, of great 
antiquity, having been erected in the reign of Edward I., in 
1212. A thing that lends it interest is the memory of the 
distinguished dead that, executed hard by, in the days of 
despotism, lie in its vaults. There lie the bodies of Arthur 
and Edward Poole, great-grandsons of the unhappy Dake 
of Clarence, whom Edward lY. put to death by drowning in 



120 TRAVELS IN FRANCE 

a butt of Malmsey wine ; of the Earl of Warwick, the inoffen- 
sive but more unhappy son of this Duke of Clarence ; of 
Fisher, Bishop of Rochester ; of Queen Ann Boleyn ; of 
Thomas Cromwell, (Earl of Essex,) put to death by Henry 
YIII. ; of Queen Catharine Howard; of the Earl of Surry ; 
of the Duke of Sofnerset ; of Devereux, Earl of Essex ; of 
Lady Jane Gray, and her husband Lord Guildford Dudley ; 
of the Duke of Northumberland ; of the Duke of Monmouth, 
and of many others ; all of those whom I have named, having 
been executed, except the two whose names were first given. 

In the sequel of this letter I will give a very brief account 
of the Tower as a place of defence, as a place of royal abode, 
and, lastly, as a prison. 

It was founded by William the Conqueror, with the view, 
originally, to its being a stronghold from which he could 
effectually hold in check the mutinous spirit of the Lon- 
doners ; and this end it did fully answer, and this not only 
in his days but in those of his successors; the garrison of 
Normans, which long occupied it, completely suppressing 
all inclination to rebellion on the jiart of the vanquished 
English. It first became the scene of strife and violence in 
the reign of Stephen, the grandson of the Conqueror, through 
his daughter Adela, Then again in the reigns of John, Ed- 
ward II., and Richard IL, it was the scene of sieges and 
tumults. Also, during the wars of the Roses, and of Charles 
I. and the Long Parliament, it was regarded by all the 
various parties as a fortress the possession of which was of 
the greatest moment. It is worthy of being told, — to the 
high honor of England, — that during the eight centuries now 
almost completed, through which it has stood, it has never 
had its strength tried by the attack of an army of invading 
foreigners. 

Its strength was, no doubt, what induced the monarch, when 
it was first built, to establish, when not staying at Windsor, 
within its enclosure, his royal residence. The spot occu- 
pied by his palace was the southeast portion of the area 
which is contained within the inner wall, and it covered 
about one-sixth of the space included within said wall, that 
is, about an acre and two-fifths. All the monarchs of Eng- 
land resided there, and there held their courts, down to the 
reign of Queen Elizabeth; and even her vsuccessor, James I., 
occasionally held his court in the old palace in the Tower. 



AND THE BRITISH ISLANDS. 121 

Of this palace, however, there is not now one stone on 
another. That edifice, in which kings, queens, and nobles 
feasted, from which knights and fair ladies rode forth to en- 
gage in jousts and tournaments in adjoining open spaces, 
and in which questions pregnant with war, or involving 
peace and prosperity, were, innumerable times, decided, — 
and these things during centuries, — has long since given 
way to another structure, or to make mere street-room. 

But the Tower has been not merely a stronghold and a royal 
palace, it has also, from a very early period in its history- 
till the present day, been used for a prison. The first State 
prisoner immured in it was Flambard, Bishop of Durham, 
who was put into it, about the year a.d. 1100, by Henry I., 
(the third son of the Conqueror,) who had just succeeded 
his brother, William Rufus, on the throne. And, from the 
days of Flambard till the execution of the Scottish Jacobite 
lords, in the middle of the century last past, how many indi- 
viduals eminent for their rank pined their years and lives 
away withia those gloomy walls ! How many persons of 
all ranks, during the ages of barbarism, when the prince, 
the minister of religion, the noble, the burgher, and the pea- 
sant, were alike ignorant of the nature of humane feeiiiig, 
endured unutterable misery among the secret passages and 
dark chambers lately beneath my feet ! We ought to thank 
God that those days of sternness have gone past, and 
that a milder period has arrived. Among the most dis- 
tinguished of those who have been prisoners in the Tower 
at various times, I may name the following persons, to wit : 
King Baliol of Scotland, (1297;) Sir William Wallace, 
(1305;) King David Brace of Scotland; King John of 
France, with^is son and many French nobles, (1359;) the 
worthy Sir Simon Burley, who was beheaded on Tower 
Hill, (being the first for whom a scaffold was there erected,) 
in 1388 ; the weak Richard II. ; the amiable but unfortunate 
Henry YL, and his high-spirited Queen, Margaret of An- 
jou; the Duke of Clarence, who was immured by his bro- 
ther, Edward lY., and put to death in the Bowyer Tower; 
Edward Y. and his brother, who were put to death in the 
Bloody Tower ; Lord Hastings, who was seized, and, with 
a very brief delay, executed in front of St. Peter's Chapel ; 
Lord Cobham, who was burned, in 1411, at St. Giles's-in- 
the-Fields, as a Wickliil'eite ; the Earl of Warwick who, after 

10 



122 TRAVELS IN FRANCE 

having been long cruelly and unjustly kept a prisoner by 
Henry YIL, was by his order beheaded ; Thomas Fitzger- 
ald, (son of the Irish Earl of Kildare,) who was executed at 
Tyburn, in 153T ; Sir Thomas More, Lord Chancellor, who 
was executed; Fisher, Bishop of Rochester, who was exe- 
cuted ; Queen Ann Boleyn, who was also executed ; Lord 
Cromwell, who was executed; Queen Catharine Howard, 
who experienced the same fate as Ann Boleyn ; the Countess 
of Salisbury, the last of the Plantagenets of full blood, (she 
having been the daughter of the Duke of Clarence, and the 
sister of the Earl of Warwick, both of whom have been 
spoken of above,) who was dragged by her gray hairs to the 
fatal block from which, in horror, she sought to fly; Lord 
Thomas Seymour and Lord Edward Seymour, uncles of Ed- 
ward YL, both of whom were executed ; Lord Gruildford 
Dudley and Lady Jane G-ray, with whose history all are 
familiar; the Princess Elizabeth, who was afterwards the 
famous Queen Elizabeth; Cranmer, Ridley, and Latimer, 
who, all three of them, became martyrs of Protestantism ; 
the Earl of Essex, Lord-Lieutenant of Ireland; Sir John 
Perrot, Lord Deputy of Ireland ; Arthur and Edward 
Poole, great-grandsons of the Duke of Clarence, to whom 
I have several times made reference ; the Irish Earl of Des- 
mond, and afterwards his little son; Philip Howard, Earl 
of Arundel, who was beheaded in 1572; Sir Walter Ra- 
leigh; the beautiful Lady Arabella Stuart; the proud and 
gifted Earl of Strafford ; Archbishop Laud ; several per- 
sons concerned in the death of Charles I. ; the Duke of 
Monmouth ; the vile Judge Jeffries ; and the Lords Bal- 
marino^ Kilmarnock, and Lovat, with whom,j— with a sin- 
gle exception,. — I will conclude my long list ; that excep- 
tion having reference to Henry Laurens, of South Carolina, 
President of the American Revolutionary Congress, who 
was here confined as guilty of high treason. Perhaps there 
is no other prison in the world that can claim such a cata- 
logue of celebrated names as having belonged to its inmates. 
But, of the old gloomy place, (a place that so depressed 
my spirits by its gloom that I left it almost in tears,) which 
has been the theme of my long epistle, I have said enough 
to gratify a reasonable curiosity; and, therefore, with your 
leave, I will here stop. 

Yours. &c., M. F. 



AND THE BRITISH ISLANDS. 123 



NO. XYI. 

Churches in London — Service in St. Saviour's— St. Giles's-in-the-Fields— Presbyterian 
Church and Dr. Gumming — Royal Chapel of Wliitehall — Sermon — St. Giles's — 
Cripplegate — Grave of Milton — Surry Chapel — Divine Service at Lambeth — Exeter 
Ilall — Desire to Visit the Church of the Crusaders. 

London, June, 1855. 

Both Sabbaths, since I came hither, I have attended di- 
vine service as often as I posssibly could ; and it is my pur- 
pose in this letter to say something of the churches in which 
I have been providentially led to worship. This vast city 
is a city of churches, and yet a large share of the population 
spends the sacred day, not in the offering of their homage to 
their Maker, but in excursions and amusements. In Lon- 
don, and in the districts which are connected with it, there 
were, four years ago, somewhat above TGO places of wor- 
ship belonging to all classes of religionists : of these, 366 
belonged to the Establishment, 133 to the Congregational- 
ists, 109 to the various classes of Wesleyan Methodists, 90 
to the Baptists, 17 to the Presbyterians, t to the Unitari- 
ans, 25 to the Roman Catholics, 2 to the Greek Church, 
and 11 to the Jews, while some other places of worship 
were held by less prominent denominations. I would ob- 
serve that I could pleasantly pass a considerable time in" 
becoming acquainted with the various temples, and forms, 
of worship, in this city. 

The first church in which I joined in divine service in this 
city was St. Saviour's, — once called the Church of St. Mary 
Overy, — in Southwark. I inquired of the landlord of the 
hotel for a Congregational or Presbyterian Church; but, as 
the word church is here peculiarly appropriated to the edi- 
fices belonging to the Church of England, he directed me, 
no doubt from a misapprehension on his part, to the church 
of which I am speaking. I may remark that here all 
Christian temples other than Episcopalian are named cha- 
pels. This, I was informed, sometimes leads to qnite ludi- 
crous mistakes on the part of the simple class of the humble 
Iloman Catholic Irish ; Catholic churches in their own coun- 
try being usually called chapels. When these pe^Dple pass 
over to England, and inquire of some Englishman, as simple 



124 TRAVELS IN FRANCE 

as themselves, the way to the chapel, and are directed to a 
Methodist or Congregational place of worship, I was told 
that some of them would express the utmost astonishment 
at the new form of Romish service with which, in England, 
they had just become acquainted. As for myself I was not 
sorry that, though by mistake, I had found my way into St. 
Saviour's. It is a noble edifice, and, in its choir and lady- 
chapel, boasts, in the view of competent judges, the best 
early English architecture in London. The sermon, too, 
was evangelical, and, viewed as a specimen of sermonizing, 
though not great, highly respectable. Nor did the parson 
read from a manuscript before him, but, on the contrary, 
acquitted himself like a man not needing crutches to help 
his lameness. If the sermon that I heard be a sample of the 
average of his sermons, both as to its doctrine, composition, 
and delivery, I regard his parishoners as well served. 

The church, — though I did not learn this till after I 
had worshiped in it, — has several interesting associations 
gathered around it in connection with the memory of the 
persons buried in it in long past years. Here, in the four- 
teenth century, was buried John Gower, professor of law in 
the Inner Temple, but better known as a poet. Here was 
buried, on December 31, 1G07, (according to the parish 
register,) Edmund Shakspeare, -the youngest brother of 
William Shakspeare, the great poet ; the spot of interment 
being, hovv'ever, unknown. Here, in the chancel, lies in- 
terred, John Fletcher, the celebrated dramatic writer, he 
having died of the plague in 1625. And, also, here lies 
buried, in the same grave with his friend Fletcher, Philip 
Massinger, also a celebrated dramatic writer. Perhaps I 
may step out of my way, in this connection, to observe that, 
in the fourteenth century, not far from this old church, stood 
the ever-famous Tabard Inn, in which Chaucer assembled 
his Canterbury pilgrims. 

On the afternoon of the Sabbath on which I attended 
worship in St. Saviour's, I worshiped, at two o'clock, in St. 
Giles's-in-the-Fields ; and I assure you that though the 
name once conveyed a correct idea, (for the place in early 
times was in the country and overgrown with bushes,) it is 
now a misnomer. Instead of fields around it, it now makes 
part of the ''province built over with houses." The house, 
which is plain but sufficiently capacious for a congregation 
of considerable size, was only thinly occupied, and the 



AND THE BRITISH ISLANDS. 125 

preaching, though good, was not by any means of very 
marked excellence. Some allowance, however, ought to be 
made for its being the afternoon, when attendance in all 
places of worship is small. 

Upon the spot where this church stands, or contiguous to 
it. Lord Cobham was burned at the stake, in 141t, under 
the charge of being a Wickliffeite. Here, also, when, after 
the Reformation, the fires of persecution had been again 
lighted in England, three Protestant martyrs were burned! 
I would add that also, in somewhat later days, this spot be- 
came illustrious in the literary history of England, being the 
place where the dramatic writers. Chapman and Shirley, lie 
interred; the former having died in 1634, and the latter in 
1669. 

On the evening, the congregation assembling so as to be 
out just at dark, I again attended worship ; going on this 
occasion to the Surry Chapel, where Sir Rowland Hill for- 
merly ministered. In it I have been more frequently than 
in any other place of worship in London, — except Exeter 
Hall be viewed as such, — having been in it more than once 
on week evenings since I caijie hither. The building is of 
a .circular form, large, and very plain. The numerous as- 
semblage, which was and is mostly composed of very plain- 
like people, was very attentive and devout. The form of 
worship used is a blending together of the simple services of 
the Dissenters with the liturgical forms of the Church of Eng- 
land. And the pastor preached an excellent plain and sub- 
stantial sermon. Erom what I have seen of this church, I 
have become impressed with the idea that, as to piety and 
activity, it is hot behind any church in London. 

On the Sabbath last past I attended worship in the Royal 
Chapel in the Palace of Whitehall, — which royal place of 
worship you ought not to confound with the Chapel Royal 
in the Palace of St. James. When I started from my 
hotel, my purpose was to go to St. Giles's, Cripplegate ; 
but, just after leaving the house at which I had put up, 
while going along the street, I observed a vehicle with the 
advertisement in large letters, ''For the Royal Chapel, 
Whitehall," and, upon seeing this and putting an inquiry to 
the driver, changing my place of destination, I entered the 
vehicle with which I had thus come into contact, and was 
soon taken to the old palace. As it happened, my attend- 

10* 



126 TRAVELS IN FRANCE 

ance was very unusually early, so that when I entered there 
was no one in the house except a superb-looking man close 
by the door, whom, from his robes, I supposed to be the 
rector, and whom therefore I felt unwilling to ask for a 
seat, but who turned out to be the sexton ! In these cir- 
cumstances I took the liberty, unusual in that place, of tak- 
ing the occupancy of a seat upon myself. Nor, as it hap- 
pened, was I disturbed. The preacher was a somewhat tall, 
straight man, of about (as I judged) thirty-five or forty 
years of age, very graceful ia his movements, and with an 
admirable and well-modulated voice. He, however, stood 
almost motionless as he read off, beautifully and eloquently, 
though closely, his manuscript. His text was from the 
Book of the Acts of the Apostles, at the second chapter 
and at the thirty-second and thirty-third verses. And he 
drew out his discourse, without divisions, like a linen thread 
running oft' its spool; no mattedness, nor hinderance, nor 
confusion, of any sort. The congregation is generally, 
judging from its appearance, very aristocratic, yet it gave 
to the preacher a simple, earnest attention. And the ser- 
mon was worthy of attentioij, for it was certainly a fine 
specimen of tasteful, dignified religious composition. Xet 
it lacked : its religious tone v/as such as to leave it doubtful 
whether it did not need, though possessing so many excellent 
qualities, to be, nevertheless, baptized in the name of the 
Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost. And again it lacked : 
the fixed, statue-like attitude of the preacher, — a speaker so 
graceful and so self-possessed, — detracted greatly from the 
force of his eloquence. The chapel itself, as it seemed to 
my eye, is about the size of a country church in'many parts of 
the United States, or of a large lecture-room of a city church. 
The pulpit is not at the end of the room, but at the middle 
of one of the side walls ; and opposite it is a lofty chair of 
State or royal throne, or what I took for such. At the end 
of the chapel, away from the door, (which is at one end,) 
appeared, piled up, an immense quantity of golden plate, 
presented, at various times, for sacramental uses, to those 
exercising the trust of this house of worship. This chapel 
is the old banqueting-room of Charles I. It is the only 
remaining part of the Palace of Whitehall, of the days of 
the Charleses and of Oliver Cromwell ; the other parts of 
the edifice having been, since those times, renewed. It was 



AND THE BRITISH ISLANDS. ' 12T 

designed by the well-known architect of the seventeenth 
century, Inigo Jones, after the style put forth by the famous 
Italian, Andrew Palladio, while the ceiling was painted by 
Rubens ; and it is justly regarded as admirable both for its 
architecture and painting. It was through a window close 
by the pulpit, which window had been removed for the pur- 
pose, that Charles I. passed out when stepping on the scaf- 
fold, — which was just outside, — to suffer death. It was in 
this apartment, also, that, previous to its burial, his body 
was laid out in gloomy state. As I took my departure 
after the conclusion of the services, I could not help looking 
intently at the footmen standing in the vestibule, holding 
with both hands their masters' gold-headed canes, (these 
being held before the breast in a perpendicular position,) to 
deliver them to them as they came forth. 

After having worshiped in the Whitehall Palace Chapel, 
I attended divine service, in the afternoon, at two o'clock, 
at St. Giles's, Cripplegate, the burial-place of the author of 
Paradise Lost : 

" A genius unirersal as his tlieme ; 
Astouisliing as Chaos ; as the bloom 
Of blowing Eden, fair; as Heaven, sublime." 

So sang the poet of the " Seasons," with respect to our 
great epic poet ; and it was in consequence of my cherishing 
a fellow-feeling with that expressed in the beautiful lines 
quoted, that, at the time designated, I made my way to the 
church that I have named. St. Giles's, Cripplegate, (Crip- 
plegate, I would remark, being the name not of a street in 
London but of a certain locality,) is quite a plain structure, 
and stands in an unfrequented street off any of the great 
thoroughfares. I reached it by going along the large and 
very public thoroughfare called Aldersgate Street, and then 
turning oft' from it, at a right angle, along the little street 
called Jerdin ; and, having gone past an abrupt bend, I found 
myself at the door of the old edifice which I was seeking. 
It stands with a slant from the street, which touches only 
one corner of it ; but this corner has a wide door, and 
through it is the entrance into the vestibule. Passing 
through the vestibule, I entered and sat down ; and, as the 
congregation had not yet assembled, had time to gaze 
around me at leisure. The building, which is very solidly 



128 TRAVELS IN TRANCE 

constructed, is old-fashioned. It is, lengthwise, divided, over- 
head, into three parts, that is, a middle part, and a part on 
each side of this ; the roof of the middle division being much 
higher than of the other two parts, so that it has windows 
overlooking their roofs. On t4ie side next the street, on ac- 
count of the neighboring houses, it has only two windows, but 
on the other side, (which looks upon an old graveyard,) five ; 
and the gallery windows correspond in number to those on the 
ground floor. These windows are of lead, have the panes 
very small, and are each divided into three compartments ; 
these compartments being very tall and narrow, and each of 
them extending from the top to the bottom of the window in 
which it is. In each window there is a ventilator which is 
formed by a portion of the glass being bent in from the per- 
pendicular, so that thus, while the rain is excluded, the air 
is admitted. It will be perceived that such a mode of ventila- 
tion may answer in the mild climate of England, but it would 
be unsuited, equally, to the extreme heat and the extreme cold 
of the United States. Just above the chancel is a round or rose 
window of an orange-yellow glass, and of about a little more 
than three feet in diameter. Upon it are painted some pic- 
tures; and the Hebrew word Elohim, (God,) in large Hebrew 
letters, is written in its centre. The interior of the house has 
its audience-space enlarged by the addition of three galleries ; 
that is, a gallery on each side and one at the end ; the last- 
mentioned one being intended for the choir. These galleries 
are supported on each side by six hexagonal pillars of huge 
thickness. Around the pulpit and chancel is a very rich 
abundance of carved work, pver the clerk's seat, which, 
after the old -fashion, is in front of the pulpit, is the once- 
prized but now antiquated sounding-board. Then there are 
the old high-backed pews. And, in connection with the 
particulars enumerated, I would mention an excellent old- 
fashioned organ in the gallery of the choir, with the inscrip- 
tions on it, "Awake up, my glory," and, ''Awake, lute and 
harp." You will perceive from what I have written that 
the bones of Milton gave me a deep interest in everything 
belonging to this old building. Indeed I have but little 
doubt that it has not changed very greatly in its arrange- , 
ments and leading features since he and his father here wor- 
shiped and were here buried. Though extensively repaired, 
it is still the same edifice. 



AND THE BRITISH ISLANDS. 129 

After awhile, in came the clerk bearing the clergyman's 
books, and then the clergyman himself entered. I remarked 
that, like the house, the clerk was exceedingly old-fashioned, 
especially in his dress and pronunciation. The preacher 
took for his text the second chapter and twenty-eighth verse 
of the Book of Joel, from which he read a beautiful and 
pious discourse, but in a manner rather inanimate. I ob- 
served one thing, however, that, when compared with what 
is to be met witli in our city churches in America, I thought 
highly commendable ; the manner in which the praises of 
God were snug. When the old precentor ft-om his desk led 
off in the music, he was responded to from the gallery of the 
choir at once by the organ and by the voices of seventy or 
eighty boys and girls, (these little persons mainly constituting 
the choir,) while the entire congregation joined in ; all ex- 
hibiting the greatest animation and heartiness in loudly 
sounding the praises of the Lord. 

After worship I walked up one of the side aisles to the 
chancel, in which, under the desk, the immortal poet lies. 
He was buried in November, 1614, and, in the beginning of 
August, IT 90, — at which time the house was undergoing re- 
pairs, — bis cofiBn, (of lead,) was disentombed by some per- 
sons of the parish in which St. Giles's stands. Even then 
the features of the countenance were not entirely obliterated, 
and the long, light-brown hair was as strong as the hair of a 
living being. I am sorry to say that before the body was 
restored to its mother earth, the hair and some of the teeth, 
were rudely and sacrilegiously plundered and carried off by 
some of the viler parishoners, who found access to the coffin. 
The thought of the execrable proceeding considerably spoiled 
to me the effect of the fine psalm-singing, I must acknow- 
ledge ; for I would much sooner take pleasure in the loud 
songs of praise sung by the children or grandchildren of 
noted horse-stealers or sheep-thieves than in the music, 
how hearty and well performed soever, of those whose 
fathers or grandparents stole the teeth from the jaw of the 
ever-to-be-honored bard, in whom, and that truly, "each 
great, each amiable muse of classic ages" met. I add that 
in the middle aisle a marble bust has been placed in honor 
of the poet, with a tablet recording the date of his birth and 
death. But Milton's bones are not the only thing that gives 
interest to the church with respect to which I have been 



130 TRAVELS IN FRANCE 

writing. Here, the stranger visiting it should bear in mind, 
the justly celebrated Dr. William Bates took part, between a 
century and a half and two centuries ago, in maintaining a 
morning exercise; and here Tillotson preached, (in 1661,) 
the first sermon that was ever printed by him. 

Toward the evening, at five o'clock, — after a short inter- 
val, — I proceeded to Westminster to the church in which 
Dr. Gumming ministers, resolved to pay London Presby- 
terianism the compliment of worshiping at least once in one 
of her sanctuaries before going hence. I had determined 
not to be too late. And I succeeded in reaching the church 
so early that but few signs of an assembling congregation 
were to be seen. I found also that the doors were shut, and 
that they would not be opened, at least to strangers, till 
after the hour of worship. But, having made up my mind 
that I would be one of the worshipers on the present occa- 
sion, I took my stand at one of the doors. Around these, in 
a short while, a large number of Scotch, — men and women, 
and mostly of the humbler walks of life, — began to collect 
with their Bibles and Psalm-books. Of these persons, some 
were silent, some engaged in pious conversation and friendly 
inquiries, some dived into the depths of the Apocalypse, and 
not a few discussed in very broad Scotch the question of the 
largeness of the income of the reverend divine, to listen to 
whom we had all come together. Why, his kirk paid him 
down, every year, so many hundred pounds ; and then the 
books that he had printed, brought him, each year, a sum so 
liberal, (one affirmed,) that I refrain from naming it ; while 
others made a very heavy deduction on figures thus large. 
So passed time away, the crowd around the doors still in- 
creasing. As for myself, I concluded that I would get into 
the church in this way once, but not a second time. At 
length, the regular pew holders having become seated, the 
doors were opened, and in the crowd rushed. Pews and aisles 
were a crush. Comfortably seated myself, I could not but 
pity hard-worked men, and old women, who had to stand 
through a service of more than an hour and a half. Men 
may, in words, contemn money, and verdancy may actually 
contemn it, but, not occasionally, both in England and Ame- 
rica, some money is a great help to persons hearing in a way 
that will give a fair chance for the salvation of the soul. 

Dr. Gumming is one of the sweetest, chastest, and most 



AND THE BRITISH ISLANDS. 131 

fluent, — though not a great orator, — of speakers ; and his 
prayers and sermon had as much, as those of any other man 
that I recollect to have heard, of that mingled authoritatiye- 
ness and tenderness which we call onction. There was, how- 
ever, for me, a little too much of Scotch old-fashionedness 
both about the sermon and the service. He spoke without a 
manuscript, and plainly without having committed ; never- 
theless, his sentences would not bring discredit upon Blair. 

There are two things for which I must find fault with this 
church. One is the poorness of the edifice. The members 
of the church and congregation are in good circumstances, 
no doubt many wealthy, and during the sittings of Parlia- 
ment a considerable number of members of Parliament and 
noblemen here worships ; and in these circumstances the 
sanctuary, in which all these statedly come together, should 
be, in everything connected with its architecture and appear- 
ance, much superior to what it is. In proof of the wealth of 
the worshipers I would mention a circumstance that came 
under my own observation. While I was there, a notice, in 
respect to something done at a meeting of the Sabbath- 
school teachers, was read from the pulpit, the youthful Duke 
of Argyle having presided. Where, in a city like London, 
dukes go to church, — the Duke of Wellington, as well as the 
Duke of Argyle, often worships here, — the greater part of those 
who attend, (I mean in the morning,) are not likely to be the 
poor. Why, then, do not those who sit under the ministry of 
Dr. Gumming put up a better edifice ? Surely, if inanimate 
things praise the Lord, a temple to God cannot be regarded 
as mere mute stone and lime, but, as itself, a thing of praise : 
it cannot be looked on as a mere thing in which to serve 
Deity, but as that which should be eloquent continually of 
Him to whose glory it has been reared ; and, taking this 
view of things, I cannot but conclude that the merchants, 
commoners, and nobles, who frequent the place of worship 
with respect to which I am writing, should erect in its 
stead, for God, a superb ecclesiastical structure in Westmins- 
ter. Indeed, in my opinion, it will be very discreditable to 
them if this should not be the case at no very distant day. 
I would say, however, that I do not suppose that it is to 
save money that the present poor building has been put up 
with till now ; but that, to Enghsh High-churchmen, Scotch 
Presbyterianism in London may not appear obtrusive, that 



132 TRAVELS IN FRANCE 

it may not seem to elbow at head- quarters its proud sister 
establishment. Thus, as a piece of politico-religious cour- 
tesy, are the reasonable claims of the Creator disregarded. 
The other thing in which I blame Dr. Cumming's people 
is, that they keep the poor and strangers crowding in the 
street about the door, — it being kept locked till the service 
has begun. The thing is shameful. I know that, in a 
city of more than two millions and a quarter of people, mea- 
sures should be employed to secure to the regular congrega- 
tion their seats. But this can be done without keeping a 
crowd on a cold pavement, or in* the rain, or under a hot sun. 
Either build houses like the cathedrals of the middle ages, in 
which there are several chapels branching oif from a single 
vast floor, as in Notre Dame in Paris, or, if this do not please, 
put up enough of houses of worship to accommodate all who 
seek admission. By some means or other, it should be effected 
that out-door crowding should be done away with. 

The only other places that I will speak of, in this letter, 
as visited by me, in addition to the places of worship of 
which I have already spoken, are, the church close by the 
palace of the Archbishop of Canterbury at Lambeth, and 
Exeter Hall, which is only occasionally used as a place of 
worship. 

I attended divine services at Lambeth on a week evening. 
Taking my passage in a little steamer, one of those that leave 
the stairs at London Bridge every few minutes, I passed up 
the Thames, through the arches of the Soutv/ark, Black- 
friars, Waterloo, the Suspension, and Westminster bridges, 
and went ashore at the pier close by the Palace of Lambeth. 
This old palace is some distance, nearly half a mile, above 
the Parliament-house, on the opposite side of the river, — close 
to which it stands. It is a very ancient (though renovated) 
building of brick, and has been the residence of the occupants 
of the Archiepiscopal See of Canterbury since the twelfth 
century. It has a park and garden of eighteen acres in ex- 
tent ; and, on the premises connected with it, I learned that 
there are two Marseilles fig-trees still standing that had been 
planted three centuries ago, by Cardinal Pole. After walking 
all around, several times, the hour of worhip arrived and I 
entered the church. This church, which stands in a very old 
graveyard, is as remarkable for its antiquity as for anything 
else, having been founded in ISTt. I was very sorry that I 



AND THE BRITISH ISLANDS. 133 

could not stay for the close of the services as the sexton 
came in, — as I had requested, — and told me that the last 
boat of the evening was about to leave, and I felt it unsafe 
to walk all the way to my lodgings at an hour so late. Of 
the palace which the Plantagenet kings had at Lambeth, 
there is not now a trace. 

I have, on a variety of occasions, been present at meetings 
of a moral and religious character at Exeter Hall. While I 
have been here there has been regular preaching in this hall 
on the Sabbath by a very eloquent young Dissenting clergy- 
man, Mr. Spurgeon, for whom, I was told, a church was 
about being built ; but it has not been convenient for me to go 
to hear him. It is thus used both as a church and as a place 
for public meetings. The building is very large, and was 
originally a menagerie of wild beasts. The seats rise from 
the floor toward both ends of the building ; one seat rising 
above another, after the manner of the benches in an ancient 
amphitheatre. They begin, in the way described, to rise, at 
the distance of about one-fourth of the entire length of the 
hall, from one end of the house, and at the distance of three- 
fourths from the other. In connection with the smaller por- 
tion of the area thus divided is the platform on which, at 
public meetings, the chairman, officers, speakers, and other 
privileged persons, sit ; and the large division is occupied by 
the auditors. There are also quite small side galleries to 
which a privileged portion of the auditors is admitted. I 
was present at a meeting held, on the evening of the 30th of 
May, for the suppression of the traffic in intoxicating beve- 
rages. The speaking was excellent. The fact is, the Bri- 
tish greatly excel in platform speaking. Most assuredly, 
the aid of the national legislature in putting down the sale of 
strong drinks as a beverage could not have been more elo- 
quently invoked than by some of the speakers. At this ex- 
ceedingly interesting meeting, Sir Walter C. Trevelyan, Bart., 
presided. While the Right Honorable the Earl of Harring- 
ton, K.G.B., was addressing the assembly, a scene of con- 
fusion and excitement, not often surpassed, (I have never 
seen it equaled except at a temperance celebration, sixteen 
or eighteen years ago, in Mc Aran's Garden, Philadelphia,) 
occurred from the interruptions of the tavern-keeping inter- 
est which was largely represented. This confusion was re- 
vived during the speeches of all who followed him. The 

11 



134 TRAVELS IN FRANCE 

speeches, especially those of Samuel Bowley, Esq., of Glou- 
cester, and of the Honorary Secretary, Samuel Pope, Esq., 
were very good pieces of eloquence. I would only add as 
to Exeter Hall, that it is situated in the Strand, about half 
way between the west end and the city proper, and that it 
must be capable of accommodating at least four thousand 
people. There is a great lack of doors if a fire should ever 
occur during a meeting. 

There is, in addition to the churches that I have spoken 
of, another church that I would have visited before this if I 
could possibly have made it convenient to do so, and which 
I would like to look at before leaving : I speak of the Church 
of the Crusaders, which is situated down an alley in the neigh- 
borhood of Temple Bar, and which, with its figures of knights 
in bronze, (recumbent on the marble tombs on the floor,) 
persons well informed in such matters assert to be well wor- 
thy of a stranger's attention. I fear, however, that want of 
time will prevent me from gratifying my desire. 

Yours, &c., M. F. 



NO. XYII. 

Visit to the British Museum — Where Located — Its Antiquities — Grecian — Italian — 
Roman — Old British — Ninevite — Obelisk — Eosetta Stone — Mummies — Elgin Mar- 
bles — Phigalean Marbles — Columns from the Mausoleum — Etruscan Vases — Terrar 
cottas — Portland Vase, &c. — Irish Arrow-heads — Skene — The Great Charter — 
Library — Ninevite Sculptures — Pannels of Alabaster — Bronze Dishes 2500 Years of 
Age — Roman Mosaic — Altars — Votive Tablets — Miniatures of British Cromlechs — 
Objects from the Field of Nature, &c. — Visit to Crystal Palace — Town of Sydenliam 
— bermody — Campbell — Railroad — Entrance by Colonnade — Extent of Grounds — 
Of Palace — All Glass — At the Heat of Madeira — Egyptian Temple, &c. — Assyrian Ar- 
chitecture — Greek Agora — Parthenon — Roman Eorum — Colosseum, &c. — Pompeian 
House — Casts of Sculptures — Portrait Gallery — Orange-Trees — Palms — Date-palms 
— Olive-Trees — Pomegranates — Machinery — Musical Band — Park and Gardens — ■ 
Plant 3000 Years Old. 

London, June, 1855. 

Until just now, I have been in doubt as to the course I 
might conclude to take ; whether I should stay in town with 
the view of visiting some places that I have not yet seen, 
among others the Church of the Crusaders ; or whether I 
should, on to-raorrow afternoon, go up to Egham, and 
thence to Windsor. I have concluded to go to Egham and 



AND THE BRITISH ISLANDS. 135 

Windsor. It is with regret that I give up the idea of going to 
the Church of the Crusaders; but, intending soon to leave for 
Ireland, and having already seen many beautiful specimens of 
medieval architecture, as well as seen tombs with the effigies 
stretched on them, (in bronze, or of some other suitable mate- 
rial.) of the persons buried in tbem, — both originals, and the 
admirable fac-similes of such objects that have been introduced 
into the Crystal Palace, — I have come to the conclusion that 
at this time I val\ postpone my interest in the beautiful old 
church of the Knights Templars, as well as in the other 
things that I might view if staying in the city, to the desire 
that I entertain to see something of the country up the 
Thames, to stand on the verdant flats of Runnimede, and to 
visit Windsor. 

To-day, as it happens, partly fi'om a slight indisposition 
and partly from the state of the weather, I must be confined 
within-doors. This being the state of the case, I have con- 
cluded to sit down and write out my notes in relation to 
my visits to the British Museum and the Sydenham Crystal 
Palace. These places are well worth all the attention that 
the stranger can conveniently pay to them. I passed an en- 
tire day in the Museum and two entire days in the Crystal 
Palace, and certainly my time was not misspent. 

First, as to my visit to the Museum. 

The edifice which contains this noble institution stands on 
Great Russell Street, and is close to both Russell and Bed- 
ford squares, and not any very great distance to the north- 
west of the celebrated square so well known by the name of 
Lincoln's Inn Fields. Its distance from Waterloo Bridge I 
judge to be between one-half and three-quarters of a mile, in 
a direction nearly northward. The edifice itself is spacious 
and imposing. In its shape it is qudrangular, and it is two 
thousand feet in circuit. It stands on the place, if I do not 
err. which had formerly been occupied by Montague House, 
which had been, a century ago, appropriated to the recep- 
tion of the collection of natural and artificial curiosities, 
and of the library, which had been the property of Sir Hans 
Sloane. The present fine building has been erected within 
the last thirty years. There are few, if any, finer collections 
of objects of interest, anywhere to be found, than are those 
collections here gathered together. To only a few of the 
things in them, however, can I make reference. 



136 TRAVELS IN FRANCE 

The gatliering's here of antiquities are very noble, even 
after one has seen the splendid collections of the French 
capital. Here are antiquities from ancient Egypt, from* 
ancient Greece, from ancient Rome and other parts of Italy, 
from Britain of the olden time, and from Nineveh. 

The hoary days of Egypt gje here well represented. First, 
there is an obelisk from that country, but of small size, being 
only eleven feet in height, which once stood before the Tem- 
ple of Thoth, the Egyptian Hermes. It had originally been 
seized on by the army of Bonaparte with a view to its re- 
moval to Paris, but, being captured by Sir Ralph Abercrom- 
bie, v/as carried to England. According to the best author- 
ity, obelisks were first raised in honor of the sun, and were 
meant to represent, in their shape, a pencil of light. It is 
affirmed that, after the conquest of Egypt by the Persians, 
(525 B.C.,) no more were cut, but that any subsequently 
erected were merely transferred from an old site to a new 
one. Egyptian obelisks, therefore, must always be very 
ancient. On the one in Paris the name of Sesostris, as the 
founder, is inscribed, who reigned, according to the common 
chronology, 1491 years before .Christ, or not very long after 
the departure of the Israelites from Egypt ; or who w^as, 
according to some chronologists, on the Egyptian throne 
still earlier, having been the father of the Pharaoh who per- 
ished beneath the Red Sea. If this latter opinion be the 
correct one, then Moses will have stood and gazed, just as I 
have latety done, on one or both of the obelisks with respect 
to which 1 am speaking. Again, here is the famous Rosetta 
Stone which, it is supposed, dates back to 200 years before 
Christ. The letters on this stone, (which is basalt, and 
which I inspected very carefully,) are considerably faint; 
and it is also somewhat mutilated. It was dug up by the 
French during their occupation of Egypt, while building a 
fort near Rosetta, and, from them, captured by the British. 
There is on it a* decree in relation to Ptolemy Epiphanes, 
which is written in three sets of characters, to wit, the Greek, 
the enchorial or popular, and the hieroglyphic or sacred. 
The Greek inscription concludes thus, hputq y.ai eyywptoiq /.at 
* ^zAArf^uo'.q YpaiJ.ij.dh^ which signifies, " In sacred, in popular, 

* The manner in which, by means of the Rosetta Stone, hierogly- 
phics were first deciphered, is curious. An elliptical oval, drawn 
like a ring, around a group of characters, was remarked, on it, fre- 



AND THE BRITISH ISLANDS. ISt 

and in Greek letters." This stone has been, to the moderns, 
a chief key to a knowledge of the hieroglyphics of the ancient 
Egyptian priests and philosophers. Again, here is a com- 
plete statue of Memnon, of nine and one-half feet in height ; 
and, in connection with it, the head of a colossal statue of 
the same personage, (though not of that statue which, at the 
rising of the sun, gave forth musical sounds,) that, when 
complete, must have been twenty-four feet in height. Again, 
here is an admirably preserved mummy from the Egyptian 
Thebes; the priestess of Amera. She is clothed in linen 
painted over with the likenesses of the gods of her country. 
As I looked at her, I could not help exclaiming, — What 
a poor relic of a human being ! Yet, on the other hand, 
what a practical knowledge of chemistry the ancient peo- 
ple of Egypt had, to be able to preserve a body, in such 
wonderful integrity, down to the present day ; the moderns, 
with all their boasted chemical skill, being unable to do 
this for more than a few years. But what seemed to me 
at first altogether strange was that the hands of the priestess 
were crossed on her bosom. Before, I had thought the cross 
was the peculiar emblem of Christianity. However, on in- 
vestigation I have found that the ancient dwellers in the 
Valley of the Nile used the same emblem long before our 
Lord's advent, and that it is of frequent recurrence amng 
the hieroglyphics. Indeed, the Christians of a very early 
period had had their curiosity excited by this very thing. 
And to satisfy this curiosity, as we learn from Socrates 
Scholasticus, certain "converted heathens," who had been 
Egyptian priests and acquainted with the meaning of the 

quently to occur. The same ring and characters, it was perceived, 
were to he met with in an liieroglyphical inscription on an obelisk 
brought from Philoe, the Greek inscription on which speaks of Ptol- 
emy and Cleopatra. This word thus enclosed was guessed to stand 
for the proper name, Ptolemy. On the obelisk, another elliptical 
oval was also observed, which was supjjosed to denote Cleopatra. 
On comparing the ovals, (that on the Rosetta Stone with that on the 
Philie Obelisk.) the first character in Ptolemy, a square block, was 
discovered to answer to the fifth in Cleopatra, and was inferred to be 
P. A kuot;ed cord was observed to be the third letter in Ptolemy, 
and the fourth in Cleopatra, being inferred to be 0. In a similar 
way the letter L, denoted by a lion, was brought out. Again, a 
ha-.vk was seen to be the sixth and the ninth character in Cleopatra, 
and it was inferred to have the force of A. Such was the beginning 
of the clew to the lost alphabet of hieroglyphical writing. 

11* 



138 TRAVELS IN FRANCE 

hieroglyphics, "explained the symbol, and declared that it 
signified life to come." If it were not for this explana- 
tion I would have supposed that the crossing of the hands 
on the bosom denoted submission, since this attitude on the 
part of the conquered, — the fingers of the open hands being 
placed oh the tips of the shoulders, — always signifies uncon- 
ditional and totally unresisting surrender to superior power. 
Again, here is the coffin of Cleopatra of the family of Soter, 
belonging to the Roman period ; this coffin having the shape 
nearly of a long rectangular box, but with the top rounded. 
Again, here is the mummied corpse and the coffin of Soter, 
Archon of Thebes ; this relic likewise belonging to the pe- 
riod of the Roman rule in Egypt. I would remark that, 
among the ancient Egyptians, only persons of distinction 
were buried in coffins. And, also, here is a number of other 
mummies, with their cases stripped off. 

Of ancient Grecian curiosities there is a large collection, 
but, as was the case as to the Egyptian antiquities, I can 
only refer to a few of them. First, I mention the marbles 
collected in G-reece and brought to England, in 1814, by 
Lord Elgin ; and which the British government bought from 
him for £35,000 sterling. These splendid remains of anti- 
quity afford some of the finest specimens of ancient art. 
With respect to them, the first modern sculptors and paint- 
ers have expressed themselves in terms of the highest admi- 
ration. The largest part of them, ninety-two pieces, was 
taken from the Parthenon, (that is, the Temple of the Yirgin, 
to wit, Minerva,) at Athens. These consist of such of the 
sculptures decorating the pedimeiits as had remained when 
the removal to England was effected, of many of the metopes, 
and of a large part of the frieze. As the Parthenon was 
built in the time of Pericles, (about 450-440 B.C.,) and Phi- 
dias was employed in relation to it, it may be, and it has 
been, supposed that he either executed these works in part, 
or was at least the author of the designs for them. I cannot 
help remarking that Paul, when in Athens, no doubt gazed 
on the things on which I have lately been looking. Again, 
I mention the Phigalean Marbles which are here to be seen. 
These were discovered among the ruins of a temple near 
Phigalea in Arcadia, and are to be referred to about the 
same time at which the Parthenon was built. They consist 
of a series of sculptures in alto-relievo ; (that is, the figures 



AND THE BRITISH ISLANDS. 139 

projecting considerably, yet without being detatched;) and 
represent the fight, so celebrated in Grecian mythology, of 
the two rude Thessalian races, the Centaurs and the Lapi- 
thae : they also represent the battle of the Grecians and 
those fabled heroines, the Amazons. These sculptures have 
received great admiration. Besides, I ought not to omit 
to mention two pieces of columns, — with writing on them, — 
from the mausoleum erected in Halicarnassus by the younger 
Artemisia, queen of that city, in honor of her deceased hus- 
band, Mausolus ; which mausoleum was for a long time, not 
merely one of the wonders of Asia Minor, but one of the 
seven wonders of the world. 

Also, here is a rich collection of ancient Italian and 
ancient Roman antiquities. Of these, those that were accu- 
mulated by Charles Townley, a gentleman of fine taste, and 
of larp^e fortune, (who died in 1805,) are, of themselves, suffi- 
cient for a respectable museum ; — I mean in this particular 
line of antiquities. He collected both Egyptian and Grecian 
antiquities ; and,, in addition to these, a large number of Etrus- 
can vases, of valuable medals, and of ancient works in terra- 
cotta, (that is, baked pipe-clay, as I may, in passing, explain,) 
both entire figures and reliefs, — the terra-cottas having been 
gathered by him, during a residence in Tuscany and Rome, 
with great trouble and expense. But the most noted anti- 
quity of ancient Rome in the Museum, probably, is the Port- 
land Yase, — so named from the Duchess of Portland, who 
bought it for a thousand guineas. No one is permitted to 
see this except by special application to a person having 
charge of the institution. It was found near Rome, in a 
sarcophagus supposed, for some reason or other, to be that 
of Alexander Severus and his mother. It is about ten 
inches in height, by six in diameter where broadest, and is 
of a very deep dark-blue glass dipped in a white enamel ; this 
exterior coating having been cut away so as to leave certain 
admirably executed human figures on the vessel, — which fig- 
ures are supposed to represent the history of Alceste, who 
is restored to Admetus by Hercules. Some years ago it had 
been shattered into fragments, by an insane man, but the 
broken parts have been, with extraordinary skill, reunited. 
I would only further observe, in relation to it, that it be- 
longs to that class of antique Murrhine vases, which was 
made not of natural but of artificial materials, and that it is 



140 TRAVELS IN FRANCE 

regarded as one of the most precious gems of ancient art. 
Besides the Portland Vase, I would mention a jBctile painted 
vase belonging probably to about the time of Alexander. 
It is of great value as an antique : indeed it is an antique 
not merely in our day, but, "even in the time of the empire, 
painted vases were termed 'operis antiqui,' and were then 
sought for in the ancient tombs of Campania and of other 
parts of Greece in Italy." More than this, the discovery of 
some vessels of this description in some old tombs at Capua, 
even in the days of Julius Caesar, was thought worthy of a 
particular mention by a grave historian, Suetonius. The 
particular vase, that has led to these remarks, has repre- 
sented on it Hercules and his companions in the gardens of 
the Hesperides, and the race of Atalanta and Hippomenes. 
In spite of some carelessness on the part of the painter, it is 
regarded as perhaps the best specimen of vase-painting that 
has yet been discovered. With respect to this art itself, I 
remark that its exercise is supposed to have ceased with the 
destruction of Corinth, or about 145 years before Christ. 

I ought now to say a word of some few of the antiquities 
of the Britain of by-gone days, which have been here col- 
lected. But I can say only a word. They are, however, 
both numerous and important. Among them are old British 
ornaments of gold, and flint arrow-heads from Ireland, with 
an iron arrow-head from Meath in that country. Among 
them I observed, too, an Irish skene, an old weapon whose 
use corresponded to tlTat of the Bowie knife of the South- 
west. It was also employed for the terrible purpose of cut- 
ting, at the joints of their armor, the throats of the knights 
who had been overthrown in melee, but who, on account of 
the impenetrable character of this armor, were still not any- 
thing more than stunned by their fall. It is a sword-knife 
of about sixteen inches in length. But far the most import- 
ant of the British antiquities here presented is an original 
copy, (or I ought to say copies, there being, as I afterwards 
learned, two such papers,) of the Great Charter of Liberties, 
which is preserved in the Cottonian Library. When I say a 
copy of the Great Charter, I refer to the fact that, as soon as 
this instrument was signed and completed, copies of it were 
sent to each county or diocese in England ; and the paper 
preserved in the British Museum is one of these. The hand- 
writing itself is a curiosity. My having spoken of the Cot- 



AND THE BRITISH ISLANDS. 141 

Ionian Library suggests the remark that the library of the 
institution, of which I am speaking, is perhaps among the 
best in existence. It is composed of the original Cottonian 
library, which was collected by Sir Robert Bruce Cotton, 
who died in 1631 ; of the classical library, and of the news- 
papers, collected by the celebrated Greek scholar, Dr. Bur- 
ney, who died in 181*7 ; and of the Harleyan Manuscripts, 
gathered by Robert Harley, Earl of Oxford, so celebrated 
as a statesman in the reign of Queen Ann ; together with 
large additions made from other quarters. There is a read- 
ing-room connected with the library, and, upon a visitor's 
pulling of the bell-rope, the book desired is at once brought 
by an attendant. 

But there is not, in the Museum, anything of the character 
of antiquities more interesting than those accessions that 
have been made to it from the East, by the traveler Layard, 
Here, from Nineveh, are immense masses of rock, hewn by 
the sculptor into shapes partly human, partly bestial, and 
partly birdlike. Here, in connection with these, are two 
gigantic human figures of such vastness that a man beside 
them sinks into the most insignificant littleness. The for- 
mer sculptures consist of winged lions and bulls. The bulls 
have the body, legs, and feet of a bull; immense wings 
like an eagle, extending back from the shoulders to the 
hinder extremity of the animal ; and the head like that of a 
man from whose face a great beard flows down over the 
breast. The lions nearly correspond in appearance to the 
bulls, except as to the body and legs. These sculptures re- 
present Assyrian deities; the human head denoting intelli- 
gence, the bestial body strength, and the wings swiftness. 
Also, here, in a hall fitted for the purpose, and kept peren- 
nially warmed by day and night, are pannels of alabaster, 
brought from excavations made by the same traveler, on 
which are represented, — on some more faintly, on others 
very distinctly, — numerous scenes of peace and war, of con- 
quest and triumph, and of subjection and captivity ; scenes 
in which appear the conquering monarch with his soldiers, 
and the vanquished chiefs with their warriors crest-fallen 
and prisoners. To go somewhat into particulars as to the 
objects represented on the pannels, or tablets, spoken of. 
On one- of them, the eye of the beholder, as it wanders to 
and fro, over the scenes pictured, fixes on a god with a face 



142 TRAVELS IN FRANCE 

like a bird. Then we have our attention drawn to a bust 
of Esar-Haddon, with a long, square beard flowing down, a 
king of Assyria who terminated his career more than 800 
years before Christ, and who had succeedd to the throne 
while Hezekiah sat on the throne of Jerusalem ; that Assy- 
rian king who planted the heathen in the inheritance of the 
ten tribes carried captive. Then, in another scene, we have 
represented to us another Ninevite king, with a sword by 
his side, a bow in one hand and arrows in the other, an 
attendant holding a parasol over his head, and many ser- 
vants, on foot, leading chariot horses. Then we have, 
represented to us, a body of cavalry, some of whom are lying 
resting with their saddled horses standing hard-by, some 
struggling with rearing horses, and others on the gallop but 
checking their impetuous steeds. Then we have representa- 
tions of Assyrian war-chariots, three horses abreast in each, 
two men only in each chariot, one driving and the other 
shooting with a bow ; while, under the wheels of some of 
the chariots, foemen lie prostrate and helpless. And then, 
in one place, we have a picture of Assyrian warriors seeking 
to take a walled city by assault, and in another a picture of 
them attempting the capture of a similarly protected city by 
cautious advances. Such are a few of the scenes pictured 
on the Nineveh tablets, at least 26t5 years old, with which 
the walls of one apartment of this Museum is incrusted. 
And in connection with these things are to be seen certain 
arrow-headed inscriptions which have been recently, and in 
a remarkable manner, deciphered by Colonel Rawlinson 
and Dr. Hincks. Here, from the long-buried kitchens and 
rooms in the mansions of Nineveh, are even some of those 
utensils that were used in common life ; bowls and dishes of 
bronze. Strange, wonderful, that all these things should 
see the light, in such a state of preservation, after the long 
lapse of eighty-nine eventful generations ! 

The only other antiquities, which I will here mention, 
are, a fine piece of ancient Roman Mosaic, three ancient al- 
tars of libations, (one smooth and the other two sculptured,) 
three sacrificial altars, (one of them having been consecrated 
to Jupiter Ammon and the other two to Apollo,) another 
altar, round in shape and resembling, at the top, a huge 
cheese, except as to its hollowness in the centre, and 
quite a number of votive tablets. .While speaking of these 



AND THE BRITISH ISLANDS. 143 

Greek and Roman religious antiquities, I may mention 
that here are miniature fac-simles of two British antiquities 
of a religious character ; a fac-simile of the Cromlech of Duf- 
frin in South Wales, and another of the double Cromlech in 
Anglesea. As to the cromlech, I remark that it is composed 
of an immense large stone flat on the upmost side, which is 
commonly supported by three small ones ; that it is located 
in a Druidical circle or near a large standing stone ; and 
that it seems to have been an altar of sacrifice, since in the 
countries of the North of Europe, where these objects are 
not uncommon, such a stone is still named a blood-stone. 

So much for the antiquities of this Museum ; I will now 
say a very little of a number of the very fine specimens of 
objects from the field of nature, here assembled, in which I 
took a deep interest, some of them being new to me, and 
others being such things as I had long had some familiarity 
with. Here are, in glass cases, and carefully arranged, 
numerous specimens of the following valuable substances, to 
wit : amber of various colors, a substance highly esteemed 
by the ancients, which is still wrought into beautiful small 
vessels and into ornaments, and which is remarkable as that 
with which Thales, more than 2400 years ago, performed 
the first experiments in electricity ; topaz of various forms 
and colors, a gem which, if it were not furnished so abund- 
antly by nature, would command the very highest price ; 
alabaster, a substance much and justly valued by the ancients 
for columns, statues, vases to contain lamps, and boxes to 
hold perfumes; Spanish marbles in great variety ; corundum, 
or adamantine spar, of various colors ; varieties of chalce- 
dony, the common chalcedony, the carnelian, the Oriental 
carnelian, and the sardonyx, — these chalcedonic substances 
being not only in their natural state, but also having been 
worked into seals, spoons, and other articles ; agate ; moss- 
agate ; jasper ; agate jasper ; porcelain jasper ; rock crystal ; 
opal in several varieties ; garnet in a number of varieties ; 
chrysolite ; and beryl and emerald ; together with the sap- 
phire, ruby, and both common and Oriental amethyst. Here, 
also, are specimens of the diamond, (the most precious of 
the gems,) and fac-similes in glass of some of the most cele- 
brated, as the Kohinoor diamond, and that diamond in the 
Russian sceptre which had once belonged to Shah Nadir. I 
was also much interested in the meteoric stones, and the 



144 TRAVELS IN FRANCE 

huge mass of meteoric iron from South America, which are 
here to be seen. Two theories are advocated in relation to 
these things ; one is, that they are native to our earth, — the 
other theory is, that they are substances which are strictly 
meteoric, having come to us from an immense height in the 
atmosphere, and which may perhaps, as some have thought, 
have been projected from volcanoes in the moon. Nor is the 
supposition of their being lunar absurd, since the same force, 
which on earth would project a body with four times the 
violence of a cannon-ball, or ten miles upwards, on the moon 
would carry it beyond the limited sphere of that luminary's 
attraction, and consequently to our globe. If this hypothe- 
sis should be sustained, then aerolites and meteoric iron, 
though not the rarest, would be the greatest of all natural 
curiosities. With respect to this iron, I would add that it 
has more the appearance of a light gray-colored steel than 
of our common iron. 

I will not say anything more in relation to the British 
Museum, except this, that its riches, in all departments, can 
scarcely be described short of a volume, and that I feel 
that the dry catalogue of some of its contents, that I have 
given, can scarcely do more than belittle it in your estima- 
tion : what I have said falls far, immeasurably far, below the 
reality. 

I will now proceed, in the second place, to give you some 
account of my visits to the Crystal Palace at Sydenham. 
This beautiful town, as you are aware, is situated about 
eight miles to the southeast of London Bridge, near which 
my hotel is. It was in Sydenham that the gifted Irish poet, 
Thomas Dermody, died in 1 802, the victim in early life of a 
hapless fondness for the intoxicating cup. Also it was the 
residence of the author of " The Pleasures of Hope," Thomas 
Campbell, who in it wrote his Gertrude of Wyoming. For 
going thither every facility exists, a railroad, on which trains 
run every half hour, beginning within one hundred yards of 
the bridge spoken of above, and extending to the very edge 
of the huge crystal fabric. The first-class cars on this road 
are remarkably fine. When the visitor reaches the railway 
terminus at the Palace he finds himself at the lower extremity 
of a long colonnade, as it is called, of seven hundred and 
twenty feet in length. This colonnade is a covered way of 
glass, and on each side of the plank walk by which he as- 



AND THE BRITISH ISLANDS. 145 

cends, are planted choice exotics almost without numbpr. 
He is thus brought to the south wing of the edifice. Through 
this he proceeds into the main enclosure or floor. Then 
what an overwhelming sense of vastness bursts upon the 
mind ! What a feeling of blended splendor, and novelty, 
and variety ! And what admiration does the new style of 
architecture call forth ! Nor are these feelings tamed down 
by a continued examination on the part of the stranger : on 
the contrary, as he examines all around, they grow. Within 
the two hundred acres which the palace, garden, and park, 
cover, he finds, brought together to an unsurpassed degree, — 
perhaps I ought to say an unrivaled, — the beauties of na- 
ture, the treasures of art, and the marvels of science. The 
main building is 1608 feet in length, to which are to be 
added the wings, each wing being 5t4 feet in length ; and 
the height and width are proportioned to the length. There 
are also two galleries, (one above the other,) running around 
the edifice. When this grand structure, — which is raised on 
an eminence, is composed of a bright thick glass, and has a 
most noble regular irregularity of outline, roof, and height, — 
glitters in the sun, it forms a spectacle of brilliancy and splen- 
dor such as no human imagination, in picturing forth the 
castles of romance, could, in its wildest and loftiest concep- 
tions, ever dream into being. Even Satan's royal seat de- 
scribed by Milton, as situated within 'Hhe limits of the 
north," 

" High on a hill, far blnzing, as a mount 
Raised on a mount, with pyramids, and towers, 
From diamond quarries hewn, and rocks of gold," 

fails, at once, to stand in the comparison when brought into 
competition with the edifice of which I am speaking. The 
surrounding scenery, the site, the outlines, the magnitude, 
the material, all combine to heighten the general effect. 
And all the vast space in the interior of this great building 
is occupied by things remarkable for either their antiquity, 
their rareness, their beauty and taste, the distance from 
which they were brought, the skill which they display, or 
for something else greatly valued among men. Here geology, 
ethnology, and zoology, are extensively illustrated: here are 
fac-similes of celebrated works of architecture from the whole 
world : here are casts of the most celebrated works of sculp- 

12 



146 TRAVELS IN FRANCE 

ture : here are specimens of the chief manufactures of the 
world : here, in the basement, is the vastest collection of 
machinery ; and here, around, is the noblest exhibition of 
taste in gardening. But I must observe some order in what 
I say that I may be understood. 

First, as to the building itself — It is the same, though en- 
larged by almost one-half, that formerly contained the great 
exhibition in Hyde Park, whence it was removed to its 
present site. The edifice, immense as it is, consists entirely, 
above the floor, of iron and glass; even the roof is glass, — ■ 
this glass, which is in furrows and ridges, being one-thir- 
teenth of an inch in thickness. In the side walls are venti- 
lators, both above and below^for the escape of hot air in the 
heat of summer ; while in the winter the interior is kept at 
the heat of Madeira by hot water flowing in pipes from 
boilers below, to which, when it has begun considerably to 
cool, it flows back in other pipes. The total area of the 
building is 143,656 superficial feet, and the total cost of con- 
structing it is said to have exceeded $7,000,000. This mag- 
nificent structure was planned and carried out by Sir Joseph 
Paxton. 

Let us now inspect, in detail, the various styles of architec- 
ture, which are here exhibited. Let us look at the Egyptian, 
the most ancient of which we have any knowledge. Here are 
Egyptian lions, the exact verisimilitudes of ones brought 
from among the antique sculptures of the valley of the Nile. 
Here is a temple ; and mark the simplicity, the vast propor- 
tions, and the solidity, which it exhibits : mark, too, the 
palm and lotus-leaved capitals of the columns. Here is 
another temple with eight vast figures of Rameses the Great, 
forming its fa9ade. Here are columns, the exact copies of co- 
lumns going back to 1 300 years b. c. Here is a copy of a tomb 
found among the grottoes of Beni Hassan, (near the site of 
the ancient Cynopolis,) the oldest piece of architecture re- 
presented in the Palace. And here is a portion of the cele- 
brated Temple of Karnac, (this being one of the villages on the 
side of the ancient Thebes,) of about 1170 B.C. But leaving 
these grand extravagances of Egypt, — inferior as extrava- 
gances only to the Pyramids,- — let us look at the representa- 
tions given of Assyrian architecture. This style of architec- 
ture was nearly unknown to Europeans till a dozen years ago ; 
yet it was it which long prevailed at Nineveh, Babylon, and 



AND THE BRITISH ISLANDS. 141 

Jerusalem, and at Susa and Persepolis. The style, in the 
buildings of all these cities, was the same, though the mate- 
rials were widely different, sometimes sunburnt bricks, some- 
times fireburnt bricks, and at other times stones of various 
kinds ; these various substances being largely combined with 
wood, generally cedar. In it, also, the costlier buildings 
were often lined with sculptured slabs. Bright coloring, 
bold ornaments, and gigantic imaginary creatures, are among 
the decorations of this mode of building. The palace of 
Sargon, (the successor of Shalmaneser,) that of Sennacherib, 
and that of Esarhaddon and Sardanapalus, in ancient As- 
syria, the palace of Nebuchadnezzar at Babylon, and of 
Darius and Xerxes at Susa, (these various edifices having ex- 
isted between about T20 and 500 b.c.,) furnish the illustrations 
here given of this style. Leaving the ancient architecture of 
the Orient, let us glance next at the architecture of ancient 
Greece in her best days ; so simple, beautiful, truthful, grace- 
ful, and admirable in its designs and proportions. Here we 
have a part of a Greek agora, (or public square,) with its stoa 
or porch ; ^model of the Parthenon ; (the largest model of 
that edifice That was ever constructed ;) a model of the Tem- 
ple of Neptune ; massive antse, (or square pillars,) fashioned 
after the antse often met with in the ruins of classic Greece ; 
and panneled ceiling adopted from the Temple of Apollo, at 
Bassae, in Arcadia ; together with many other things which 
I will not attempt to enumerate. once glorious but now 
fallen Greece, lingering amid these restored monuments of 
thy prosperous days, with my dull imagination ! 

-X- -X- « -if li Hence let me trace 
The latent grandeur of thy dwelling-place. 
It may not be ; nor canfanafs eye 
Restore what time hath labor'd to deface." 

Now I go to the part of the area set apart to the illustra- 
tion of the Roman style of architecture. Two things mainly 
attracted my attention. I was greatly struck with admi- 
ration of the naturalness of the copy of the ancient Ro- 
man Forum. Besides, the model of a portion of the outer 
wall of the Colosseum at Rome, pierced with arches and or- 
namented with Tuscan columns, is, even beyond the Forum, 
worthy of admiring inspection. Next, the Byzantine and 
Romanesque style, following the order of time, claims no- 



148 TRAVELS IN FRANCE 

tice. This style was that which was adopted under Con- 
stantine, and which subsequently prevailed in the building 
of Christian churches ; its churches being oblong, with a row 
of columns on each side at a considerable distance from the 
walls, the one end of the edifice terminating in a semicircu- 
lar recess. Such, undoubtedly, was the original form of the 
Christian church, the model for it having been found in the 
Roman basilica or court-house. Then followed churches 
built after the fashion of the Greek cross, with a dome over 
the point in each edifice where the parts intersect each other. 
Next, I come to illustrations of the Moorish, or Alhambra 
style, a style remarkable, among other things, for its beauti- 
ful arches of a horseshoe form, for its fine colors, and for its 
beautiful Mosaic pavements. Of this style we have here the 
noblest and most superb exemplifications. Of these I will re- 
fer to the fac-simile of the Court of the Lions in the fortress- 
palace of the Alhambra, near Granada, to that of the Hall 
of Justice in the same palace, and to that also of the hall 
called after the Moorish tribe of the Abencerrages, the Hall 
of the Abencerrages. Leaving the Moorish style, I next 
come to the Italian, French, German, and Engfth medieval 
I styles. Then follows the Renaissance or Revived Roman. 

I And lastly, I come into contact with the modern Italian style. 

ji All these various styles are most happily illustrated in the 

I Crystal Palace. 

I But, while speaking of the architecture of which, in the 

t| edifice that I have been describing, we have examples, the 

] Pompeian House, which has been constructed to represent 

ij the dwelling of the ancient gentleman, — the recovered city 

of Pompeii furnishing the model for this building, — cannot 
be passed by. Here we see illustrated the veritable manner 
in which the wealthy Roman of ancient Rome, in his best 
days, liv,ed. As to this house let a few words suffice. The 
ground on which it is erected is of the shape of a rectangle, 
or oblong, of which the depth is twice as great as the width, 
the depth extending back from the street. This rectangle is 
then divided into two squares, between which there are two 
fauces or passages; these passages being separated by a 
room central to the whole building, and used as a drawing- 
room. The square next the street, — which has its roof so 
constructed as to leave an open space in the centre of the 
roof, called the compluvium, — is called the atrium or recep- 



AND THE BRITISH ISLANDS. 149 

tion-room, and has a marble water reservoir in the centre, 
called the impluvium. Around this apartment are two large, 
and four small bed-chambers, and also two alee, or recesses, 
for the transaction of business with strangers. This part of 
the house was open to all having any reason for making a 
call on its owner. The other part of the rectangle, that 
most distant from the street, was called the peristyle, and to 
it strangers had access only by special invitation. It, also, 
has an opening in the roof, and beneath this, a small garden 
corresponding, a good deal, to the pleasaunces cultivated in 
the middle ages in the quadrangle of castles. Around the 
square of the peristyle are pillars or columns. It contains, 
also around it, beyond these columns, numerous apartments, 
and has a porta postica or back door. The back part of 
it contains a kitchen, a recess for the household gods, and a 
bath-chamber. There are, besides these, the bed-chamber 
of the master of the house, a summer dining-room, and a 
winter dining-room, with one or two other apartments for 
bed-chambers. With respect to the windows of the Pom- 
peian House, I observe that they all open inward upon the 
courts, except two, which open on the street, — or, I ought 
rather to say, the nave of the palace. And with respect to 
the roof of this house, I remark that it is what is called a 
ridge-roof. I would only further add, in relation to this 
admirably constructed and beautifully decorated antique 
dwelling, that on the days when I was in it (which I sup- 
pose is always the case) there were standing, against the 
walls of its kitchen apartment, several pitchers which, in the 
year of our Lord 79, were buried in Pompeii, with that over- 
whelmed city, by the mingled ashes, pumice, lapilli, water, 
sand, and rocks, ejected at the time referred to from Mount 
Yesuvius, then, after the repose of many ages, awakening 
to resume his ancient reign of fire. 

Having looked at specimens of the various styles of archi- 
tecture, let us now examine the vast collection, which has 
been here made, of the various works of sculpture in different 
parts of the world. Of ancient master-pieces of Greek and 
Koman sculpture there are between four and five hundred 
admirably executed casts ; and of modern master-pieces of 
sculpture, — Italian, French, German, and English, — there 
are nearly three hundred casts. No one can conceive the 
vastness of these collections without passing through them. 

12* 



150 TRAVELS IN FRANCE 

Nor do these casts fail to represent, with undoubted faithful- 
ness, their noble originals, as I myself can, to some extent, 
testify, having seen a number of the originals. You will 
excuse me from attempting to specify, as particularly worthy 
of laudation, any individual sculptures, since an effort at 
this, where there is such a multitude of unrivaled works, 
would necessarily lead me into too wide a field. 

Let me now lead you into the portrait gallery of the 
Palace. Here is something like five hundred casts of the 
most distinguished persons that have lived, beginning with 
the blind Homer, and ending with Queen Victoria and 
Prince Albert; ''artists, musicians, poets, dramatists, scien- 
tific men, authors, statesmen, soldiers, prelates, theologians, 
and royal personages." This gallery is sufficient of itself 
to occupy a day. 

Next, let me introduce you to the assemblage of Oriental 
trees that here grow, especially the orange, the palm, the 
date-palm, the olive, and the pomegranate. The specimens 
of all these trees are numerous and various. When one 
wanders among them he almost feels himself in the lands 
celebrated in the writings of prophets and apostles. Nor, 
when looking at the trees, should the cedars, planted around, 
though not yet so very large, be overlooked. 

Next, let us go around the industrial courts and gaze on 
what they contain. And next, let us go into the basement 
story and examine the immense assemblage of novel ma- 
chinery of all kinds — an assemblage with which not anything 
else of the sort can, anywhere else, come for a moment into 
competition. 

But a voice of music is beginning, like the far-off " noise 
of many waters," to pervade the immense edifice, and thus 
summoned, let me ask you to return with me to the main 
floor. A numerous band of musicians, containing sixty most 
accomplished performers, — ^these standing on an elevated 
platform, and all wearing the peculiar uniform of the Crystal 
Palace company, — are powerfully discoursing, with instru- 
ments of all sorts, the grandest conceivable successions and 
concords of sweet sounds ; these strains from them, mean- 
while, as they fall on the listener's ear, "breathing such 
divine enchanting ravishment" as well " might create a soul 
under the ribs of Death." 



AND THE BRITISH ISLANDS. 151 

"Play on: 
Give rae excess of it that, surfeiting, 
The appetite may sicken, and so die. 
That strain again ! it had a dying fall : 
Oh! it came o'er my ear, like the sweet south, 
That breathes upon a bank of violets. 
Stealing, and giving, odor." 

With sucli music is the attention of the visitors diverted 
during the lapse of a part of the afternoon of each day. 

After the band had marched away, I proceeded to take a 
stroll, each day, in the park and gardens. These are not yet, 
by any means, finished, but when completed it will be hard to 
rival them. Some idea of the scale of magnificence on which 
they are laid out may be formed, when I mention that they 
contain two terraces, the upper one of which is IStG feet in 
length by 48 in width, and the lower one 1656 feet between 
the wings, by 512 in width; the walls of these terraces being 
built of Bath stone, and having projecting bays, or alcoves, 
containing pedestals supporting statues or flower vases. 
Again, the grand central walk is no less than 96 feet in 
width. Again, they contain a large lake, (with two geolo- 
gical islands in it,) two basins, three reservoirs, eight foun- 
tains, and two cascades. I cannot stop to give the sizes 
of all these expanses of water, but some notion may be 
formed as to them by my mentioning that one of the basins 
is 196 feet in diameter, that the stone-work surrounding 
each of the cascades is a mile in extent, and that each of 
the basins is 784 feet in length by 468 feet at its broad part. 
Again, they contain two vast wheel-shaped roseries, or cir- 
cular labyrinths of rose bushes, these bushes producing roses 
of all possible hues and complexity of leaves ; and I would 
add, that each rosery is, as I judge, not less than 460 or 470 
feet in diameter. And, again, they contain admirably exe- 
cuted copies of a large number of celebrated antique statues, 
the Farnese Hercules, the graceful Mercury of Thorwaldsen, 
the Yenus of Milo, and the Paris by Canova ; and, along 
with these, numerous allegorical statues, as of Glasgow, 
Liverpool, Belfast, Manchester, Sheffield, and Birmingham, 
and of South America, Turkey, and Greece, China, India, 
Egypt, Zollverein, and Holland, Belgium, the United States, 
and Canada, and Russia. But what I have told you can 
give but a faint conception of the blended magnificence and 



152 TRAVELS IN PRANCE 

beauty that this park and these gardens display. I will con- 
clude my account of them by observing that, in the park, all 
the unpruned wildness of nature is to be met with, and, as 
to the gardens, that that part of them lying immediately in 
the neighborhood of the palace is cultivated after the plan 
of the Italian garden, with its temples, statuary, urns, vases, 
fish-ponds, formal alleys, and trees planted with preciseness, 
and that the part of them more distant is in the English 
style, which discards such excessive art and combines the 
regular and irregular; the two styles being, by imperceptible 
gradations, blended so as to avoid all appearance of abrupt- 
ness in the transition from the one to the other. 

But what seemed to me a curiosity as extraordinary as 
anything in, or in connection with the palace, was two plants 
that are in close propinquity to a number of palm-trees. 
These plants, which belong to the race of plants called the 
Elephantopus, (or the Elephant's Foot,) resemble blocks of 
wood. They were brought from the Cape of Good Hope, and 
they are supposed to be three thousand years old, being the 
longest-lived of all things that grow. Just think of looking 
at, and handling, plants now existing, that began to grow 
some time about that period in the world^s history, in which 
Ulysses died in Greece and Jephtha was born in the Land 
of Israel. Surely such a sight is worth more, by a great 
deal, than a sight of the Nahant sea-serpent. 

But it is now time that I should conclude my long, and 
perhaps to you, wearisome epistle. 

I subscribe myself yours, &c., M. F. 



NO. XYIIL 

Journey to, &c. — Staines — Egliam — Indepenclent Chapel — Preaching — Runnimede — 
Magna Charta Islet — 640 years ago — Old Windsor — Home Park — Windsor Castle — 
Hotel — Town — Eton — Stroll in Castle — Worship on Sabbath — Wolsey's Tomb-house 
— Gardens — Parks — Windsor Forest — Stoke Poge's Churchyard — Gray — The Penns. 

London, June, 1855. 

I PURPOSE, in this letter, to give you some account of the 
excursion I have been making to Egham, Runnimede, and 
Windsor ; from which places I returned last night. 



AND THE BRITISH ISLANDS. 153 

On last Saturday morning I started from Southwark, 
taking passage by railroad to Staines — which lies on the 
north bank of the Thames, at the distance of nineteen miles 
W.S.W. from St. Paul's Cathedral in the heart of London. 
The railroad passes through the County of Surry for about 
eight or nine miles, where, at the town of Richmond, it 
crosses over the Thames into Middlesex, near to the south- 
west corner of which county Staines is situated. At the 
depot near Staines, which town is a short distance from the 
road, I left the cars. Without stopping in the place, (which 
is small,) I passed over the bridge to Egham situated at a 
short distance from the southern bank of the river. 

Egham is a somewhat large village, and exceedingly clean 
and neat, and a stay in it for a time, how short soever, after 
the bustle of the great metropolis, is delightful. At the end 
of it next the river is a handsome rectory where the rector 
of the parish enjoys himself " in otio cum dignitate," and in 
the heart of it is a handsome parish church. The inn, on 
which I happened, was both cheap and comfortable. On 
my arrival, learning that there was to be preaching in Inde- 
pendent Chapel, which lies on the road at the end of the 
town farthest away from the river, I repaired thither. Here 
I heard a most excellent discourse. The chapel, I learned, 
was vacant, and the gentleman who preached, a supply. 
His sermon, I thought, very superior both as to spirit, matter, 
style, and elocution. I have never listened to a man whose 
voice was better modulated, or whose gestures were more 
graceful and appropriate. • I need not say that he did not 
read. I inquired his name and was told that it was 
Doctor * * * * J but unfortunately, not having taken it 
down at the time, I am unable to give it to you. The build- 
ing, which in this place belongs to the Congregationalists, 
though not large, is substantial and tasteful. It bears some 
resemblance, — but is on a much smaller scale, — to the Crip- 
plegate Church in London, of which I have already written 
to you. There was one thing in the service that grated 
harshly on my feelings : the people all sat, except the offi- 
ciating minister, in prayer ; in my humble opinion, a most 
lazy, most undevotional, and most unimpressive posture. It 
has always seemed to me a lazy thing for a child to say its 
prayers in bed with the blankets about it ; but this seemed 
worse. By all means, let the people stand, as the Publican, 



154 TRAVELS IN FRANCE 

in the gospels, is represented as having done ; or let them 
bow down. 

Shortly after the conclusion of religious services, I started 
on foot to go to Windsor, which lies to the northwestward 
of Egham ; the day being clear, mild, genial, and pleasant. 
I returned through the village to near the end of it next the 
river, where there is a lane that turns off from the street at 
a right angle, and, following it for a short way, found myself 
in the lower end of an immense meadow extending up along 
the southern bank of the Thames. This meadow is the fa- 
mous Runnimede. There runs across it, not a road, for the 
road keeps the bank of the river, but a well-beaten path for 
the pedestrian. This directed my steps. The green face of 
nature looked exceedingly lovely. I have seen much of the 
delightful valleys of the Alleghany Mountains in all their 
charms, have wandered through Blennerhasset's Island, in 
the Ohio, immortalized by the eloquence of Wirt, roamed 
over the regions on either bank of that beautiful stream, 
journeyed over the wide flats along the bayous of the Lower 
Mississippi, lived among the prairies of Arkansas, seen 
somewhat of the valleys of the Seine and Somme, — not to 
say anything of the recollections of juvenile days in the 
greenest and most fertile island of any sea, — and yet have I 
never beheld any scene surpassing in quiet beauty that which 
this June afternoon displayed, to my eyes, in the verdant 
richness, and in the splendid and variegated enameling, of the 
mead over which I then slowly wended my way. The path 
does not run through the meadows lengthwise, but crosses 
them with a slant, and thus reaches the main road. Its length, 
I would suppose to be between a mile and a mile and a half. 
Yet, while on it, I did not meet with a single human being 
but one. I now proceeded along the highway for some dis- 
tance, when I arrived near to a long narrow islet on the op- 
posite side of the Thames from the road ; and, at no great 
farness off from it, the meadows run out. This islet, which 
consists, I was told, of about three acres, (though I myself 
would not judge it to be so large,) is called Magna Gharta 
Island. The country people reckon it to be two miles from 
Egham and three miles from Windsor I here went down to 
the bank of the river, where I found a man with a boat, who 
ferried me across to it for a trifle. He informed me that the 
boat was for the use of the operatives in a neighboring fac- 



AND THE BRITISH ISLANDS. 155 

tory in their going and returning between their homes and 
their place of labor. This islet, which is. exceedingly low, 
and which is narrow and flat, is separated from the northern 
bank by a stream of water not wider than a wide mill-race, 
and contains a single very neat dwelling for a fisherman or a 
guardian of the fishery of the river, — I do not know which. 
After examining the island, (which, as I have said, is low 
and flat, and which is set with quite a quantity of basket- 
willows,) and going around the grounds of a country-seat on 
the adjacent bank, for a short time, I returned across to the 
highway leading between Egham and Windsor. 

Such is the picture which the field of Runnimede lately 
presented to me. And surely the natural beauties of the 
place have a condignity with the great event of which it was 
the theatre. You will perceive that I make reference to the 
assembling here of the barons of England, with their vassals 
and followers, on the 15th of June, 1215. On this day, (a 
day nearly corresponding in date, as to month and day, to 
the period in the year at which I passed over it,) six hun- 
dred and forty years ago, the nobility of the land, attended 
by a vast number of knights, yeomanry, and free peasantry, — 
all marshaled and armed, — and mainly guided by the coun- 
sels and influence of William, Earl of Pembroke, and of Ste- 
phen Langton, Archbishop of Canterbury, reared on it the 
far-famed standard of English liberty ; I may almost say, for 
the first time. A day or two later, the party of the king, 
King John, encamped hard-by, when conferences were opened 
between the nearly openly hostile parties. And, on the 19th, 
these were concluded by the signing, on the Islet of Magna 
Charta, at the upmost point of the islet, — the spot where the 
house of the fisherman, which was spoken of above, now 
stands, — of the Great Charter of Liberties. This instrument, 
which lays down the principle that the consent of the com- 
munity is necessary to just taxation, and which secures to 
all freemen the right of habeas corpus, and that of trial by 
peers, is properly regarded by all men of the English-speak- 
ing race as the first grand security which, at least after the 
conquest, their ancestors obtained as to their political free- 
dom. 

But these meadows sacred to freedom are now used for 
different purposes. On them are held races, and innume- 
rable crowds gather from all quarters to see feats of jockey- 



156 TRAVELS IN FRANCE 

ism and equine speed. They have thus been perverted to 
be the rendezvous of the man of pleasure, and not only of him 
but of the gambler and the blackleg. Indeed, from their 
name, borne from time immemorial, Runnimede, (that is, 
Running Meadow,) they seem to have been a race-ground, 
even before the days when Magna Charta was thought of. 

After losing sight of the island and meadows, which had 
been to me objects of so much curiosity, and, I would add, 
not far from where one passes out of Surry into Berks, I 
overtook on the road a respectably dressed man and his 
wife, who, I learned, were returning from Egham to their 
home in the country. With these I entered into conversa- 
tion. From them I got the traditionary history prevailing, 
in the recollections of the neighborhood, as to the great 
event whose memory is associated with the expanse of 
ground over which we had just come. They said that, a 
long time ago, there was an old king who lived in Windsor, 
that turned out to be a very mean old fellow, and that he 
did not rule the country at all right. So the barons and 
people of England assembled to go to his castle to talk to 
him about doing better. But the old fellow was not strong 
enough to meet them on equal terms, and so, when he found 
that not anything would keep them from coming, he ran off 
down the Bucks and Middlesex bank of theiThames, keeping 
the river between him and the party opposed to him. He 
stopped, however, with his warriors and party, opposite 
Runnimede and, on the island that we had lately passed, 
granted to the nation a paper that gave satisfaction to all. 
As the island lies on the northern bank, I am satisfied that, 
as to the side of the river on which the king's party was, 
this tradition, though very incorrect as to several things, 
is more correct than many of the histories that relate the 
transaction. 

Leaving Datchet, the village where Falstaff was dacked 
by the merry roysterers, to my right hand, and keeping Old 
Windsor on the same hand at the distance of three-quarters 
of a mile, the seat, according to Froissert, of the Round 
Table in the sixth century, and the site of a palace, (now 
no more,) built by the Saxon kings, and occupied occasion- 
ally by the kings after the conquest as late as the First 
Henry, — I found myself, after a pleasant and slow journey, 
in the Home Park. At the lower end of the park is one of 



AND THE BRITISH ISLANDS. 15t 

the farms of Prince Albert, a present, as the man above 
spoken of told me, of Queen Victoria to her husband. The 
housing on it is good and convenient, but, though very sub- 
stantial and quite roomy, there is little appearance of useless 
outlay. The soil, I was told, is the best in the park, yet it 
is not, by any means, naturally very rich. Indeed, the old 
kings do not seem, at least about Windsor, to have cared 
about taking the very best land for their pleasure grounds 
and game preserves. Soon the road brought me to one of 
the fronts of the royal castle, at the distance of between one- 
half and three-quarters of a mile to my right. Just oppo- 
site this front, and leading from it, there is a long lane that 
runs in a straight line across the road at a right angle, ex- 
tending out into the Great Park, Crossing this lane, I 
reached the town which is at the distance from it of about 
one-half mile, and ere long had made my way to a tavern 
not very far from the depot of the railroad by which I pur- 
posed to return to London. 

As to the appearance of Windsor, I will not say much, 
since it is so like many other towns of a like population; 
this amounting to near ten thousand. It lies in Berkshire, 
on the right bank of the Thames, which river separates it 
from Bucks. The chief part of it stands on a hill. There 
are in it many good residences. Just opposite it, (on the 
Bucks, or Buckinghamshire bank of the river,) and connected 
with it by a bridge, is the village of Eton, greatly celebrated 
for its school. I walked over the bridge to this village which 
consists of one long winding street. Its school, which was 
founded by Henry VI. in 1446, and which is richly endowed, 
has instilled the rudiments of education into the minds of as 
many celebrated men as any other similar institution in the 
world. I can scarcely realize that in their schoolboy days 
Waller, Boyle, Walpole, Bolingbroke, Fielding, Gray, Sher- 
lock, Porson, Chatham, Fox, Lord Grey, Canning, and Wel- 
lington, with many others scarcely less illustrious, have 
walked, innumerable times, along the crooked road leading 
from Windsor to Eton, over which I have been lately ma£ 
ing my slow and solitary way. ^JP 

But let me invite you to take a stroll with me in the cas- 
tle, an edifice first reared by the Conqueror, rebuilt by Ed- 
ward III., (the Victor of Crecy,) and since renovated and 
improved, at an immense cost, by Charles II. and George IV. 

13 



158 TRAVELS IN FRANCE 

The whole building, with its enclosed courts, covers about 
twelve acres. Let us go up to it from the main street of 
Windsor. This ascent is steep, though not anything com- 
pared with the almost perpendicular ascent on the side next 
the Thames. First we reach the lower ward, in which is 
situated Saint George's Chapel, raised (when the castle was 
about being rebuilt) by Edward III., and improved by Ed- 
ward TV. and Henry VII. ; which is the largest and most 
elegant of the three royal chapels in England. Still ascend- 
ing, we next reach the keep, or round tower, and then make 
our way into the upper ward. This is the portion of the 
edifice which is chiefly occupied by the royal famil}* when 
rusticating at Windsor. Let us now pass out by a new gate- 
way, which is about being opened, facing the south. Then, 
looking southward, the great park is spread out before us, a 
long lane leading to it, at the remote end of which is visible 
a statue of G-eorge III. When here, we are standing before 
one of the two main fronts of the palace, the south front. 
We now pass on in the same direction that we had formerly 
been traveling in, and, by ascending the terrace, (which has 
on it a number of small cannon,) come to what I viewed as 
the main front ; which front looks to the east. Here is a 
garden, or pleasaunce, ornamented by numerous pieces of 
statuary. And, following the terrace around, we come to 
the north side of the edifice, where we look down into an 
abyss steep and deep, on the edge of which the contiguous 
portion of the wall of the terrace is built. Now, since I feel 
quite tired with my pedestrian journey from Egham, let me 
lead you back by nearly the same way to the town, only 
stopping, as we pass through the keep, to look into a deep 
dungeon far from daylight, in which prisoners were formerly 
detained, and which has lately been laid open, for a brief 
time, to the gaze of visitors, while some improvements are 
about being made. How many a sad heart, in the days when 
the king himself directly punished political offences, may 
that dungeon have witnessed in the darkness of its depths ! 
^ On the Sabbath I worshiped in St. George's. The ser- 
j^ces, as to their ceremonial, were grand in the extreme, and 
must have been delightful to those who love pomp and cir- 
cumstance in worship. The floor was crowded to overflow- 
ing. This edifice, which is pure Gothic, has its interior of 
the form of an ellipse. Its roof is supported by lofty pillars, 



AND THE BRITISH ISLANDS. 159 

and is decorated with innumerable old flags hanging from it. 
Around the part of the church appropriated to the choir, are 
the stalls of the sovereign, and knights of the order of the 
garter, each knight having his particular stall ; and there, 
beneath a carved canopy, hang, — in long remembrance of 
each deceased knight, — his sword, mantle, crest, helmet, and 
mouldering banner. Under the floor of the building are laid, 
in long repose, the bodies of four kings, — Edward lY., the 
unfortunate Henry YI., the cruel Henry YIII., and 
Charles I. ; and also the body of the queen of Edward lY., 
that of Jane Seymour, (the third wife of Henry YIII.,) and 
that of a daughter of Queen Ann. Also, in Cardinal Wol- 
sey's tomb-house, erected by that proud ecclesiastic in the 
days of his prosperity as the place where his own clayey 
tenement would pass into dissolution, — at the east end of 
the chapel, — lie the bodies of Ceorge III. and his queen; 
the bodies of Greorge lY., and of the Princess Charlotte, his 
daughter, with her infant son ; the body of William I Y. ; and 
the bodies of the Dukes of York and Kent, sons of George 
III., and brothers to George lY. and William lY. 

There were present, at the religious service of which I 
have been speaking, several of the poor knights of Windsor. 
At those old decayed military officers, who are here honor- 
ably provided for, I gazed with great intentness. They have 
their residence just opposite the chapel. 

I am sorry to have to write to you that, some time after 
the morning services were over, two military bands, as is 
usual, stood on the lawn of the terrace, opposite the main 
front of the castle, discoursing military music till evening, 
with only the brief interval of the second service. 

I would remark, in this place, that the Castle of Windsor 
is best seen on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Fridays ; at least, 
such is the arrangement at this time, though, I believe, it is 
variable. On account of not going on one of these days, I 
missed a view of many things that are worth the being looked 
at. Among these are the royal guard chambers, containing 
a fine armory ; the royal audience-chamber, witli paintings 
by West ; the queen's presence-chamber, on tlie tapestry in 
which the decapitation of the Apostle Paul is represented; 
the ball-room ; St. George's Hall, containing a representa- 
tion of the triumph of the Bla^k Prince ; and the beauty- 
room, so called from its being decorated with portraits of 
Charles the Second's beauties. 



160 TRAVELS IN FRANCE 

I now proceed to make an observation or two in relation 
to the gardens, the parks, and the forest, connected with 
this ancient stronghold-palace, and in relation to Stoke 
Poges' Churchyard, which is in its neighborhood. 

I have but little to say as to the gardens, as, at the time I 
was there, they were not open to the public. Without see- 
ing them, I may say of them that, from every account, they 
are spacious and elegant. I fell into the company of one of 
the gardeners, with whom I had a long talk, and, from the 
answers which he gave to my inquiries, I could easily learn 
that I might safely say not only this but a great deal more. 
As to the parks and forest, — the Home Park, according to 
the guess-estimate of this man, is about four miles around, and 
the Great Park about twenty miles around, while Windsor 
Forest is between fifty and sixty miles in circuit. All these, 
especially the forest, abound in deer and other game. They 
are not, however, I ought to say, chiefly kept as enclosures 
for game, but contain several farms under tillage, and are 
stocked with large herds of black cattle : in fact, they are 
mainly great stock farms for feeding and fattening beeves. 
The same, I suppose, is true of the other immense parks in 
various parts of England, to wit : that of the Duke of Rich- 
mond, of twenty-three thousand acres; that of Earl Spencer, 
of ten thousand acres ; that of the once exceedingly wealthy 
Duke of Devonshire, — he having been worth about two hun- 
dred thousand pounds sterling per year, — and other such en- 
closures. How unequally has this world come to be divided I 

Next, with respect to Stoke Poges^ Churchyard, I observe 
that it lies four miles N.N.E. of Windsor. This old burying- 
ground I desired very much to visit, but concluded, on re- 
flection, to forego the pleasure. It is the scene, (as every 
one conversant with English literature is, of course, aware,) 
of that sweetest and most plaintive of elegiac poems, " Gray's 
Elegy, Written in a Country Churchyard." In it, also, Gray 
lies buried amid "the rude forefathers of the hamlet," of 
whom, while he was living, he sang so tenderly. Close by 
it, or at least not far from it, lived for a long time the suc- 
cessive Squires Penn, the representatives of that useful 
man, the founder of Pennsylvania: on inquiry, I learned 
that the family had not long since moved into another part 
of Buckinghamshire, or into one of the neighboring counties. 

It now only remains for me, before closing my letter, to 



AND THE BRITISH ISLANDS. 161 

mention two or three historical associations connected with 
New Windsor. The most important event in its history, so 
far as the borough itself is concerned, is the erection in it of 
his fortress-palace, by the Conqueror, to which occurrence 
reference has been already made. It was much prized as a 
residence by Henry II., (the first of the Plantagenets, and 
the conqueror of Ireland,) and also by his sons ; and these 
monarchs held here two parliaments. Again, it was a favor- 
ite residence of the first and second Edward. And, long 
subsequent to the days of these sovereigns, in the wars of 
Charles I. and the Long Parliament, it was seized by the 
Parliament and converted into a garrison. Besides, it was 
the last prison of Charles I. These are the most important 
associations, of a historical character, that are conjoined 
with the place that I have been lately visiting. As to minor 
associations, I will entirely overlook them, since they are so 
numerous that, if I were to expatiate on them, I must extend 
my letter beyond all reasonable length. 

Toward the close of my sheet, I need scarcely detain you 
with an account of my return to this great metropolis. Suffice 
it to say that, after an absence of two days and a night from 
my hotel, putting my foot in the cars, I was again in it at 
sundown, and early enough for a late supper. 

I now subscribe myself yours, &c., M. F. 

P. S. — I would mention, in connection with what I have 
been saying of the royal abode at Windsor, — though I am 
aware that it is considerably out of place, — that, by attend- 
ing near Buckingham Palace, I have lately seen the Queen 
and Prince Albert going out to take a drive. The Queen, 
to me, seemed greatly to surpass the accounts mostly given 
of her, being, though not tall, of a symmetrical form, and 
with good bust and arms ; her face, which seemed to me 
wan and unhealthily delicate, was lit up by a smile, and sug- 
gested ideas of honesty, of earnestness, and of benevolence. 
Prince Albert is an exceedingly fine-looking man, handsome, 
elegant, and graceful. One sight of them seated in their 
carriage, in their going out and returning, is all that I have 
bad. Victoria is quite a popular favorite. 

13* 



162 TRAVELS IN FRANCE 



NO. XIX. 

Bank of England — Exchange — Mansion Hoiise — Horse Gnards — Admiralty — Blue 
Coat School— Some Leading Streets, as Piccadilly, etc. — Smithfield — Tournament — 
Joust — Euston Station — Inventor of the Locomotive. 

London, June, 1855. 

For the last time but one, in all likelihood, at least during 
this sojourn in England, I date my letter from this great 
metropolis of the world, this great centre of moneyed, po- 
litical, and moral influences. Indeed, this would be my last 
letter, if it were not that I had one already partially written 
in relation to my attendance to hear the debates in the two 
houses of Parliament; which one, however, I have not felt 
at liberty either to date, or to finish, as something might turn 
up that would lead me again to be present at some legisla- 
tive discussion, by which means I would be furnished with 
further materials, or observations, that I would be desirous 
to add. On the morning of the day after to-morrow. 
Providence aiding, I propose to go hence to Wales, and 
thence to Ireland. Having, during my stay here, come into 
contact with several things of which I have not yet said any- 
thing, I take up my pen, in these circumstances, to say 
somewhat, and that as briefly as possible, of such of these 
various miscellaneous things as have most interested me. 

I need not say that the Bank of England received from 
me, after my arrival in London, an early inspection. It 
stands in one of the most crowded parts of the city, (crowded 
with houses, I mean, not with population,) near numerous 
narrow, crooked streets, among which I may name Lombard 
Street and the Old Jewry. It is an irregular parallelogram, 
covering, as is estimated, four acres, and has streets running 
all around it, of which Threadneedle Street,: — though but a 
small street, — is the most important. I entered the building, 
seeking to convert gold into paper. It has no windows on 
the streets, being entirely lighted from the inside areas, (nine 
open courts giving light to the various offices,) and from the 
roof No one looking at it, — low, solid, and dingy, but 
massive, — .would suppose it, from its appearance, the most 
opulent treasure-house in the world ; yet such undoubtedly it 
must be admitted to be. It has been estimated, by high 



AND THE BRITISH ISLANDS. 163 

authority, to be worth a rent of £40;000 per year; and it is 
asserted that every day, on an average, it receives about 
£800,000 in bank-notes. By law its regular paper issues 
may amount to £14,000,000 sterling, but they cannot exceed 
this, except it has a pound in coin or bullion for each addi- 
tional pound in paper put by it in circulation. This insti- 
tution owes the first step toward its origination to the un- 
settled state of society during the civil commotions in the 
reign of the First Charles ; at that time clerks and appren- 
tices, taking advantage of the difficulty of following and 
arresting them, acquired extensively a habit of absconding 
from their masters, after carrying with them their masters' 
money. To secure themselves against this, these began to 
deposit their cash with the goldsmiths, who gave for it their 
receipts; and these receipts soon came to pass current as 
bank-notes do. From such a beginning did the idea of a 
bank, in part, originate ; the Bank of England being at 
length chartered in the July of 1694, — ^in the midst of an era 
of wild speculations and gigantic schemes. And now, in the 
various details of its operations, it comes nearer to absolute 
completeness in its line than perhaps any other institution, 
in any line whatever, in the world. It makes, after a pecu- 
liar fashion, its own paper ; this being distinguished for great 
strength and toughness, for an inimitable shade, of white 
color, and a water-mark entirely unique, for edges that can- 
not be copied, and for a thinness and transparency that do 
not allow any figures on it to be removed without making a 
hole. In connection with this, it engraves its own notes, and 
this in a manner so incomparably skillful as to render the 
counterfeiting of them next to impossible. And when a note 
is received at its counter it is never again sent abroad, (only 
new notes being put forth, and none below five pounds ster- 
ling, or a sum equal to near twenty-five dollars,) but instead 
of this, with other notes of a similar character, is carefully 
put up in a parcel, or bundle, which parcel, labeled and ar- 
ranged, is preserved for ten years, with a view to reference 
in case of lawsuits, being, after this lapse of time, destroyed. 
Also the particularity, with respect to the coin received, is 
extreme, all the gold pieces paid in, being made to pass 
over a spring scale which, when the money is of the full 
weight, rises only to a certain height, but which, when it is 
ever so deficient, rises a little higher, the coins, in the two 



164 TRAVELS IN FRANCE 

cases, sliding into different receptacles. In illustration of 
the comprehensive justice and of the ideas of policy of the 
Bank of England, I would mention that, if he behave well, 
it never discharges one of its numerous employees, (these, 
from the original number of fifty-four, with an annual salary 
of £4350, having now increased to nine hundred, at a salary 
of £210,000,) except on half-pay for life. 

Close by the Bank of England, and on the other side of 
Threadneedle Street from it, is the Exchange, a spacious and 
ornate edifice, built fifteen or sixteen years ago. The first 
exchange was erected about 156t, when it was called the 
Bourse, the present name being given by Queen Elizabeth, 
(in 15t0,) in person, by sound of trumpet. 

Not far from these buildings is the Mansion House, a 
spacious edifice, but badly located, the residence of the Lord 
Mayor. 

Again, the Horse Guards, the seat (if I mistake not) of 
the British military establishment, is a common-looking 
building, between St. James's Park and Whitehall Street. 
Close by this building is another no less celebrated, the Ad- 
miralty. 

Again, the Blue Coat School, on the respectable old street 
called Newgate Street, is well worthy of notice from the 
stranger as he passes along the adjacent pavement. It 
stands considerably back, and has a railing and gateway in 
front. While I was looking in, innumerable boys, in their 
distinctive dress, (a dress worn since the foundation of the 
school, and in all places and at all times, — a blue gown, 
yellow leggings, and no hat,) were busily engaged in the 
yard in most obstreperous play. It was founded by Ed- 
ward YI. for poor orphans ; and on an income of £60,000 
per year, it now boards, clothes, and instructs, munificently, 
about fourteen hundred boys and girls. The boys are classed 
according to their capacities, industry, and inclinations ; 
some being apprenticed to trades, some, after mastering 
nautical mathematics, being put to seafaring, and others, 
crack boys in classics and mathematics, being sent to Cam- 
bridge, — where the institution has numerous exhibitions, 
some of which are worth £100 per year. Though the selectp 
boys in this school are distinguished for their mathematical 
and classical attainments, yet this does not prevent them 
from being also distinguished, in many cases, for their gene- 



AND THE BRITISH ISLANDS. 165 

ral knowledge, their love of poetry and romance, and their 
refined taste. From among them has come forth a number 
of very eminent men, as Samuel Cobb, Lamb, and Coleridge. 
In connection with what I have said of this charity founda- 
tion, I would say a word of the Westminster School. It 
was once the Court school, and rivaled Eton ; at present, 
however, it is not, by any means, distinguished for its use- 
fulness. 

As to the streets of this city, I remark that almost all of 
them are reasonably wide, well paved, and substantially and 
respectably built ; some, how^ever, are of a superior cha- 
racter. The most fashionable, I believe, are Piccadilly, (so 
named from a tailor whose skill in making fashionable stiff 
collars, piccadilloes, brought him a fortune, and who built 
the first house in the street,) Oxford, Pall Mall, St. James's, 
Regent, and Bond streets ; and after these is Holborn, which 
is a continuation of Oxford ; and then come the streets 
noted for substance rather than fashion, as Oheapside (a 
continuation of Holborn,) Cornhill, Strand, Fleet, and Lud- 
gate streets. There are only three other streets that I will 
name : Paternoster Row (a narrow, crooked street, close by 
St. Paul's, which has been the chief seat of the book trade 
from the time when London booksellers mainly dealt in such 
books as ABC, with Pater-Noster, down to this time ;) 
Bread Street in the same vicinity, which is also a small, nar- 
row street, but remarkable as the birthplace of John Milton ; 
and Downing Street, a small street in Westminster, cele- 
brated as having formerly been the seat of several leading 
government offices. 

Nor can I pass the paved plain named Smithfield entirely 
without mention in this brief epistle. This irregularly 
shaped vacant space lies about a quarter of a mile north of 
St. Paul's. It is rather a rude looking expanse, as might be 
expected, when the fact is called up that it is the great cattle 
market of London. What is its size I will not pretend to 
say, but it certainly appeared to me very large. That it 
has been used for a cattle market for many hundred years we 
learn from Fitzstephen, who wrote in the reign of Henry II., 
and who says of it : " Without one of the gates is a certain 
field, plain both in name (Smoothfield) and situation. Every 
Friday, except some great festival come in the way, there is 
a brave sight of gallant horses to be sold : many come out 



166 TRAVELS IN PRANCE 

of the city to buy or look on, to wit : earls, barons, knights, 
citizens, all resorting thither." As a place for the sale of 
cattle it is very conveniently fitted up, the ground being 
divided off into little stalls enclosed with wooden frames 
which open only on one side by means of bars running in 
mortices. But it has been used for other purposes than for 
a market. Here great numbers of God's people, in the days 
of persecution, were offered up as a holocaust by the enemies 
of saving truth. Here also, — to speak of times long anterior 
to the period of persecution, — at the commencement of the 
reign of Richard II., Wat Tyler's armed multitude, enraged 
at the severity of the taxes imposed by Parliament, mustered 
to seek redress by force. Besides, it was here, (mentioning 
the thing in connection with what I have just said of its 
being the spot on which men of Grod were burned at the 
stake, causes a discord,) where, more frequently than any 
place else, in the days of jousts and tournaments, splen- 
did enterprises of chivalry were, in the presence of admiring 
multitudes, accomplished. To give one instance : in the 
reign of that Richard already spoken of, there was held in 
it a tournament, as we learn from history, in which no less 
than sixty coursers were brought into use. These all issued 
together, in order, from the Tower, which then contained 
the palace, each courser with a squire of honor on his back. 
This troop was- followed by a troop of sixty beautiful ladies 
on a corresponding number of the most carefully selected 
palfreys. AH the streets through which the cortege passed 
had the fronts of the houses adorned with rich banners and 
tapestries. The squires of honor, after a little, yielded their 
seats to the knights, their masters, and then the knights 
were conducted within the listed place by the troop of ladies. 
Already, here was the queen seated in a rich gallery, and, 
to join her the ladies repaired, while in their stead three 
squires united themselves to each knight to perform for him 
all the services requisite on the occasion. Then, after the 
spectators had been arranged on their seats, and the arms 
examined, amid the sounding of many trumpets the heralds 
proclaimed with their loudest voices: "Knights and squires, 
to achievement; to achievement;" — and the knights came 
forth from their pavilions. Next, the cords dividing the 
enclosed space into two equal parts were slackened, and cer- 
tain superannuated warriors, — to whom this honor always, 



AND THE BRITISH ISLANDS. 167 

in those days, belonged, — gave the command to charge : 
" On, valiant knights ; on : fair eyes behold you." At these 
words the opposing knights rapidly careered toward each 
other, lances were broken, horses and their riders were over- 
thrown, while from the various cavaliers the names of fair 
ladies filled the air. But times have changed, and men's 
tastes with them. One, now-a-days, must be content to 
meet, in Smithfield, with butchers, graziers, and cattle- 
dealers, instead of kings, queens, knights, courtiers, fair 
ladies, and lords I 

But, speaking of feats of chivalry, I will leave Smithfield 
and go to London Bridge. On it, or rather on the Old Lon- 
don Bridge which occupied the same spot, (by which, of 
course, I do not mean that oldest bridge of all, that was 
burned in the July of 1212, when two thousand persons per- 
ished in the conflagration, but that one which succeeded it,) 
was held one of the most remarkable jousts of the olden 
time. I make reference to the remarkable encounter which, 
in the same reign that has already twice been spoken of, 
occurred between Sir David de Lindsay, (first earl of Craw- 
ford,) and the Lord Wells. The king, queen, and court, 
were present. The j ousters were clothed in complete mail, 
and were to fight, for life or death, with their spears closely 
ground. Mounted on powerful and well-trained horses, they 
careered toward each other from opposite sides of the 
bridge. About the middle of the stream the two antagonists 
rushed on each other with mortal hate, but, though both 
spears fairly struck, neither man was either hurt or unhorsed. 
The Scot, however, had so evidently the advantage that 
there was a cry from the multitude of foul play,- when he 
leaped from his saddle, that it might be seen that he was not 
tied in his seat, and then again vaulted nimbly on the back 
of his charger. After the fixed number of courses had been 
run on horseback, they next engaged on foot. At length 
the Lord Wells was brought to the ground and into the 
power of his antagonist. Now had arrived the time for 
clemency, and de Lindsay, with his foot on his foe, presented 
him to the queen, who gave him his liberty. Permit me to 
express the hope, while all this was about being transacted 
on the old structure, that the heads of traitors and of other 
criminals, (men then so numerous in the land,) had been re- 
moved, which things, even so late as Elizabeth's reign, 



168 TRAVELS IN FRANCE 

adorned it almost as thickly as they once did the gates of 
the palace of the Grand Sultan, in Constantinople. I have 
on several occasions thought of this, when passing it, espe- 
cially at night, when all was solitude and silence. The fact 
is that, in the day-time, — such is the crowding. of pedestrians, 
and of wagons and carts, across it, — ^there is little oppor- 
tunity of thinking about anything. 

I subscribe myself ever yours truly, &c., M. F. 

N. B. — I am just about to go, by omnibus, to Euston Sta- 
tion, which is about three miles from here, to inquire about 
the passage, by railroad, to Bangor. When 1 return I will 
close this letter. I leave it purposely open till then to en- 
able me to write to you in relation to any contingencies that 
might turn up in the mean while, which might induce me to 
alter the time that I have now fixed on for my departure. I 
would stop here a day or two longer, but that I wish to 
make a short stay in Wales, and yet, nevertheless, be in 
Dublin on next Sabbath. 

P. S. — I have just been to the railroad station, and I think 
I will leave this city on the day after to-morrow. As to the 
station that I have just come from, I remark that it is ad- 
mirably adapted to its purpose. One thing in it, that at- 
tracted my notice, is a very striking statue of George Ste- 
phenson, the inventor of the locomotive. This man, who was 
born near Newcastle, in 1781, commenced life as a working 
collier. At eighteen he could neither read nor write, though 
he subsequently made himself an eminent engineer. When 
quite young he became celebrated as a clock doctor, and then 
as a steam-pumping machine doctor. In 1812 he was ap- 
pointed engine-wright at Killingsworth Collieries, near his 
birth-place. There, during the following nine years of 
humble industry, he solved the great problem which has 
given him immortality as a useful man and a man of genius, 
the invention of the locomotive. The first idea as to em- 
ploying steam on railroads was that of using stationary en- 
gines to draw the trains by means of ropes. But Stephenson, 
—who had already built, upon the model of an old and very 
rude steam-engine that used to run on wooden rails in the 
collieries, a self-moving engine that did moderately well, — 
succeeded, by combining the gas pipe with the tubular boiler, 
in giving us the present locomotive, with its superior capacity 



AND THE BRITISH ISLANDS. 169 

of self-motion, and with its tremendous power. The first loco- 
motive, (called the Rocket,) he drove at the rate of thirty- 
miles an hour. Nor, after this, was he satisfied to repose on 
his laurels ; on the contrary, he engaged in railroad making, 
superintending the construction of railroads to the length 
of two thousand five hundred miles. Such was the man 
whose statue, with great good taste, adorns Euston Station. 
I would add that Robert Stephenson, M.P., son of George 
Stephenson, and the constructor of the Menai Tubular 
Bridge, is almost equally eminent, as a railroad engineer, 
as his father. 



NO. XX. 

Tickets for Parliament — Westminster Hall — Coronation Feasts — State Trials — New 
Parliament Houses — Capitol .in Washington — House of Commons — Debates — 
Speakers — Briefness — Newspaper Reports — Young Speakers — Dining — House of 
Lords — Debates — Speakers — Bishops — Lords as a Court of Law — Foi'ensic Elo- 
quence — Aiidience Chambers — Size and Shape — Ladies' Gallery — Dignity of De- 
portment — Dispatcli of Business — The Over-talking of the French Legislature — Cri- 
ticisms on Several Speakers, as Graham, Bright, Russell, Palmerston, D'Israeli, 
Lyndhurst, the Bishop of Chester, Campbell, Brougham — No Lobby Crowding — 
Unpleasant Adventure. 

London, June, 1855. 

This is the last letter that I will address to you from this 
city. In it I propose to tell you about the two houses of 
Parliament, and my visits to them on several occasions to 
hear the discussions. As a man making some pretension^ 
to literary taste, as a reader of history, and an admirer of 
talent and eloquence, and as a lover of civil and religious 
liberty, I could not well depart from this capital without 
looking on them when engaged in the transaction of busi- 
ness. Indeed, to me, to hear and to see "the collective wis- 
dom" of the British Islands, each branch of it in its own 
hall, was the most prized thing that I came into contact 
with here, numerous though the objects of interest to be met 
with are. Then the spot on which, for more than three 
hundred years, the Parliament . of England has assembled, 
on which, for nearly one hundred and fifty years, that of Eng- 
land and Scotland have united their counsels, and on which, 
for more than half a century, England, Scotland, and Ire- 

14 



no TRAVELS IN FRANCE 

land, in union, have legislated, — the legislative body here 
convening, counting, among those who have sat as its mem- 
bers, more of the celebrated names of modern times than any 
other body that exists, or that has existed, can pretend to 
reckon up among its catalogues of names, — T say, this spot 
of itself, though, instead of the time-famed St. Stephen's 
Chapel, a new edifice stands on it, is well worthy the homage 
of a visit from the stranger. 

There is some difficulty for a stranger to obtain admission 
to the halls of the Houses of Parliament, when they are in 
session. It is to be borne in mind that London contains a 
population approaching to two and a half millions, that the 
number of persons in it from a distance is, at all times, very 
great, that no inconsiderable portion of these, as well as 
many residents of the over- grown city, wish to be present at 
the sittings of the legislature, and that the strangers' gal- 
leries of either one of the Houses will not accommodate, in 
my judgment, more than from one hundred and fifty to two 
hundred persons. In this state of things, a ticket, especially 
in the case of an interesting debate, is often eagerly sought 
after. By writing to one of the members for an Irish county, 
• — the Honorable Thomas Bateson, — whose father, also, an 
Irish member of Parliament in former times, from circum- 
stances connected with college days I well recollect, I ob- 
tained tickets of admission to the Commons, and, by writing 
to Lords Brougham and Campbell, obtained from each, for 
the Upper House, a ticket enclosed in a letter. 

My first ticket was for Monday, the 4th of June. On 
*this day, entering an omnibus, I started, after dinner, for 
the Parliament House, crossing London Bridge and going 
past St. Paul's and Temple Bar, and thus reaching Trafalgar 
Square, where I alighted. To the south of this square, and 
indeed constituting a part of the same paved area with it, 
is Charing Cross, (so named from a cross, formerly on it, 
in memory of the stopping, on the spot, of the hearse of 
Queen Eleanor, who sucked her lord's poisoned wounds in 
the Holy Land,) the place where, in October, 1660, Crom- 
well's Solicitor-general, Mr. Cooke, and the Reverend Hugh 
Peters, the successor of Roger Williams in the Church of 
Salem, Massachusetts,, suffered, as regicides, the extreme 
penalty of the law ; being cut down while alive, and dis- 
emboweled, and quartered. Passing over this space, and 
along Whitehall and Parliament streets, — ^nearly at the 



AND THE BRITISH ISLANDS. 171 

point of junction of which two streets, behind the Palace of 
Whitehall, Charles I. was beheaded,-*— I arrived at my place 
of destination. Being much too early, a guide to sight- 
seeing in London, in this state of matters, accosted me, 
offering his services to go whither I chose, and first indi- 
cating Westminster Hall, which is just at the door of the 
Parliament House, as an object at which I ought, by all 
means, to take a look. 

This celebrated hall was built by William Rufus, in 109Y, 
and was repaired and improved by Richard II., exactly three 
hundred years after. Strange to say, I could not obtain ac- 
curate information as to its magnitude ; the best authorities, 
that I had access to, differing as to this matter considerably. 
According to the lowest estimate, it is two hundred and 
seventy feet in length, ninety feet in height, and sixty-eight 
feet in width, being the largest apartment unsupported by pil- 
lars in the world, except the Hall of Justice at Padua. The 
impression which it makes on the beholder is very grand. 
On the west side of it, and communicating with it, are the 
courts, to wit : ^ of Chancery, Common Pleas, Queen's Bench, 
and Exchecker. The hall itself now merely serves, during 
the sittings of these courts, as a promenade for the lawyers 
practising in them. But what gave it to me the chief in- 
terest, are the associations connected with it. How many 
great historical characters have here figured ! It has wit- 
nessed the coronation feasts, or other parts of the ceremo- 
nials attendant on the coronations, of thirty powerful kings. 
It has often looked on Parliaments sitting within its walls. 
Here Sir William Wallace, guilty of having fought against 
the junction, by military force, of his native country with 
England, was put through the idle forms of a State trial. 
Here was Sir Thomas More tried, and pronounced guilty. 
Here the great Lord Bacon was tried, and justly condemned. 
Here the proud and able Strafford was condemned. Here 
Charles I. was made to confront the High Court of Justice 
raised for his trial. Here Cromwell was inaugurated, and 
here, after his death, his head was basely raised on a pole. 
Here the prudent and virtuous Lord Soraers was put on his 
trial, and acquitted. Here the Committee of Managers of 
the House of Commons, — Burke, Fox, Sheridan, and others, 
— conducted the famous impeachment of Warren Hastings. 
And here, also. Lord Melville was tried. What food for a 
reflecting and imaginative mind I 



112 TRAVELS IN FRANCE 

I did not, however, leave my hotel to wander through 
Westminster Hall, but to go to the Parliament House. So 
I will ask you to accompany me thither. The old Parlia- 
ment House, which had once been the Palace of West- 
minster, was destroyed by fire in 1834; that ancient struc- 
ture upon whose picture even I take pleasure in looking, — 
since in it so many intellectual giants, in both chambers, 
through the lapse of several eventful centuries, had strug- 
gled for the mastery ; in it not a few of the greatest names 
in English history had earned their immortality ; and in it 
many of the great principles of English liberty had been 
propounded, defined, and successfully maintained. The new 
Parliament House is one of the noblest of edifices. As I have, 
at least a dozen times, sailed along its front on the Thames, 
and very often have walked around the parts of it lying 
next the street, I have thus had the opportunity of viewing 
it pretty thoroughly. Like the palaces of Venice, its front 
is built into the river, so that there is neither street nor foot- 
walk separating between it and the water, the terrace of 
granite, which makes such separation, being an appendage 
to the building itself. From the river the edifice seems vast, 
grand, and lofty. And its numerous high turrets or spires, 
especially the very elevated Yictoria Tower, give it an air 
of great stateliness. It is very richly decorated with rich 
tracery; a thing that gives it a foreign air, and calls up 
ideas of a much blander climate than that of England, to 
which it seems unsuited. Internally the walls are of brick, 
but externally of magnesia limestone. I observed that some 
parts of them were quite soiled and blackish, while others 
were fresh and new. I thought that their appearance would 
be greatly improved by painting them (after the fashion of 
the Capitol in Washington) into a resemblance of marble, 
with which operation, however, the tracery would greatly in- 
terfere. The building is of the figure of a hollow square, 
or, in other words, it occupies the three sides of a quadran- 
gle, or is like the upper half of a capital H, so that, toward 
the street, it has a large square court formed by the wings 
extending back from the extremities of the main structure ; 
said court being thus open on one side. This back or street 
part of the Parliament House is comparatively plain. I 
would remark that this new palace of the British Legislature 
is much larger than will be even the noble edifice when com- 
pleted, (when I say completed, I allude to its new wings,) 



AND THE BRITISH ISLANDS. US 

in whicli the American Congress meets. The American 
building, according to a statement before me, will be seven 
hundred and fifty-one feet in length, and will cover three and 
a half acres, while the British is nine hundred feet in length, 
and covers an area of nearly eight acres. Yet, in my 
opinion, of the two edifices, the American, on account of its 
standing on a commanding elevation, is, from a distance, the 
more imposing. 

But the hour of four o'clock will soon arrive, at which 
time the House of Commons will assemble. I therefore 
made my way through a long hall, up a flight of stairs, and 
then up a few steps, by which means I reached a spot where 
a policeman was stationed : to him I showed my ticket. He 
directed me to a seat where a number of persons were al- 
ready seated. And after a time we were admitted in squads 
of threes and of fours, as there was room for us in the stran- 
gers' gallery. On the second afternoon on which I attended, 
(that of the 5th,) instead of going by omnibus I went" by 
steamer on the river, taking passage at the steps on the 
Southwark side of London Bridge, and landing near Yf est- 
minsler Bridge. This short voyage is, at almost all times, 
a delightful one ; and on most occasions, when going from 
my hotel to Westminster, I have availed myself of this mode 
of locomotion. And, when traveling on this part of the 
Thames, in what reflections may one familiar, in some small 
degree, with the history of the past, indulge, — especially if 
he be going to visit the House of Commons ! It can scarcely 
fail, at least passingly, to summon up the grand spectacle of 
the 11th of January, 1642. The king, Charles I., eight 
days before had commenced illegal proceedings against 
Lord Kimbolton, Hampden, Pym, Hollis, and two other 
members of the House of Commons; and this illegal pro- 
cedure he had followed up by an attempt, in person, at the 
head of two hundred halberdiers of his guard, with numer- 
ous armed courtiers, to arrest, in their seats, the ofi'ending 
members. These were compelled to abscond. Soon, how- 
ever, they were ordered by their fellow-members to attend 
in their places and resume their duties, while the citizens of 
London, who, in the mean time, had shut their shops, and 
paraded the streets with pikes, (and this even in the night,) 
prepared to make their return a triumph. In these circum- 
stances, the trained bands of the city filled the main street 

14* 



1Y4 TRAVELS IN FRANCE 

along the river between the city and the Parliament House, 
and vessels, which were armed, ranged in two lines, filled all 
the space on the Thames between London Bridge and the 
same spot. Between these two lines of vessels, in a barge 
particularly richly decorated with streamers, the restored 
members, amid the shouts of vast multitudes and the con- 
tinued roar of ordnance, passed to Westminster to reoc- 
cupy their seats in St. Stephen's. Over the same expanse 
of water, and with many of the same old palaces on either 
hand, which witnessed this triumph, does the stranger jour- 
ney going by steamer from London Bridge to Westminster 
Bridge. Having landed, from the tiny steamer in which I 
had taken passage, at the pier below this latter bridge, I 
proceeded, this second time, to seek admission into the 
strangers' gallery of the Commons. On this second evening 
of my attendance the process of admission was the same as 
on the preceding. But on the subsequent evenings on which 
I was present, — those of the 8th and the 11th, — I was ad- 
mitted by a back way into a room with a bright-blazing fire, 
and, after waiting here till the opening of the House, was 
led into the gallery. 

On three of the nights of my attendance, the war, and the 
conduct of Lord John Russell at the conferences of Vienna, 
were the grand themes, or rather theme, of discussion. On 
this subject, or on other matters that came up on the nights 
on which it was discussed, I heard the following speakers : 
on the first night, Mr. Gibson, of Manchester, when circum- 
stances led me to withdraw ; on the second night, Mr. Roe- 
buck, of Sheffield ; Mr. Labouchere, of Taunton ; Mr. Lowe, 

of ; Mr. Cobden, of the West Riding of Yorkshire; 

Sir Stratford Northcote, of ; Major Reid, of ; 

Mr. Ewart, of Liverpool ; Mr. Y ansittart, of Berkshire ; 
Mr. Scully, of the County of Cork ; Mr. Crossly, of Hali-, 

fax ; Mr. Phillimore, of ; Sir James Graham, of Car- 

lile ; and Lord John Russell, of London. And, on the third 
night, Mr. Frederick Peel, of Bury; Sir W. Molesworth, of 
South wark ; Mr. Bright, of Manchester ; Mr. F. Scott, of 
; Sir P. Baring, of Portsmouth ; Sir Alexander Cock- 
burn, (Attorney-General,) of ; Sir F. Thesiger, of Stam- 
ford ; Mr. Davies, of Carmarthenshire ; Lord H. W. S. 
Bentinck, of North Nottinghamshire ; Mr. Cardvvel, of 
Oxford ; Mr. Walpole, of Midhurst ; Mr. Horsman, of 



AND THE BRITISH ISLANDS. It5 

Stroud ; Mr. D'lsraeli, of Buckinghamshire ; Lord Palm- 
erston, (the Premier,) of Tiverton; and Mr. Gladstone, of 
Oxford University. Some of these speakers, before the 
hour for the grand debate arrived, spoke in relation to 
things of limited interest, and used only a few words ; and 
some, — Palmerston, Graham, D'lsraeli, and several others, — 
spoke briefly more than once, and also made, each, a speech 
of considerable length. With respect to the length of time 
occupied by a speaker, one in the strangers' gallery has not, 
in Westminster, the facilities of judging that he has, in simi- 
lar circumstances, in Washington, as he sees no clock, and 
if he look at his watch a policeman will at once tell him that 
this is contrary to the rules that, in this place, are to be ob- 
served. Thus I have seen a man requested to put up his 
watch, when looking at it with the view of marking the 
time employed in speaking, by the successive participants in 
debate. As to the point to which I am making reference, I 
would remark that, though of course I could not measure 
the lapse of time, no speaker, in my time of attendance, ex- 
cept one, was tedious, and no man, (as I have oftener than 
occasionally seen in deliberative assemblies in America,) 
made a bore of himself Indeed, I suppose that such con- 
duct would not be endured. The members when speaking 
stand on the floor in, or near to, the spot where they may 
have been sitting, and, as there are no desks, are visible 
from head to foot; a severe test, as every man who has 
spoken in public knows, to be applied to a man, as to the 
decency and propriety of his attitudes. Neither did any 
one addressing the House use a manuscript, thus reading an 
essay, or pamphlet, under the name of a speech, as I have 
very frequently seen done. Indeed, the absence of desks 
makes this an inconvenient piece of procedure. All of the 
speakers that I heard, except the Attorney-General, seemed, 
to me, deficient in gesture, and not a few lacked fluency. 
There were many, nevertheless, who were very fluent. All 
used language with great propriety, and the general current 
of thought in all was proper, manly, and, in many instances, 
highly dignified. I would think that the speeches on the 
main subject ranged, as to length, from twenty-five minutes 
to an hour. I would remark, however, that speeches in the 
Commons are not always, all of them, thus brief; as, on some 
rare occasions, a speech of the unreasonable length of three 



116 TRAVELS IN FRANCE 

hours has been listened to. I read carefully the report 
of each speech that I heard made, on the morning of the 
day after its delivery, and while it was still fresh in my 
memory : I could thus compare the copy with the original. 
As a general thing the newspaper reports are very defective. 
This arises from the fact that the various gazettes do not 
much employ stenography in taking down speeches, because 
the stenographic manuscript would be difficult and slow for 
the printer and his aids to decipher, but, on the contrary, 
make use of handwriting plain, and of course slowly exe- 
cuted : thus what is uttered in debate can be printed almost 
as soon as it has been spoken, and, in the briefest time, can 
be given to the public ; this course being pursued because 
the newspapers aim, in serving their customers with news, at 
dispatch, rather than at fullness. During the progress of 
the debate, vast diversity of views was manifested, but, 
toward the close of it, a motion was offered, which was 
unanimously adopted, pledging the House to support the 
Queen in the prosecution of the war till a safe and honora- 
ble peace should be obtained. 

I also attended in the gallery of the Commons, — as I have 
already hinted, — on another evening, (that of the 11th,) when 
a bill on the subject of education was the chief theme of dis- 
cussion. On this occasion, the Speaker himself presided ; 
(whose seat, I may remark, faces, in the other end of the 
room, at about twenty feet from the wall, the gallery;) on 
the past evenings of my being present, Mr. Fitzroy, an ad- 
mirable presiding officer, having filled his place. The mem- 
bers, whom I heard speak at this time, were Mr. Adderley, 
of North Staffordshire; Mr. J. Evelyn Denison, of Malton; 
Lord Gr. J. Manners, of Cambridgeshire ; Mr. W. J. Fox, 
of Oldham ; and Sir John Pakington, of Droitwitch. The 
speaking was good, but by no means so animated as in the 
debate in relation to the Vienna Conferences. 

I was surprised that, on the evenings of which I have 
been giving an account, so few Irish or Scotch members 
spoke. This, however, is far from being ordinarily the case. 
Also I had ray attention drawn to the arrangement by which 
young speakers are practised to exercise their half-fledged 
pinions, without appearing to intrude themselves into the 
thick of a debate in which they would cause a waste of time 
and appear to but little advantage. The House usually 



AND THE BRITISH ISLANDS. Itt 

goes in at four o'clock. Smaller items of business take up 
the first hour, or two, as it may happen, and then comes on 
the grand question for the. evening. Soon after this the 
house, which had gradually come to be filled, (when the 
members are in their places their number is six hundred and 
fifty-four,) begins again to appear quite thin ; the members 
retiring in small parties to dine together in the restaurant 
of the Commons, yet doing this with such a general under- 
standing among themselves that all do not withdraw at once, 
but that as one small party returns another goes out. It is 
during this process that the young speakers have an oppor- 
tunity of speaking. After this the heavy metal comes into 
action, and the struggle is maintained till eleven, twelve, or 
even one o'clock. 

In addition to my going to the Commons on the evenings 
enumerated, I attended the debates in the House of Lords 
on the evening of the Yth ; and was also present, a day and 
part of a day at the bar of this house, while sitting as a 
Court of Appeal. I would add that the Lords usually (or 
perhaps always) assemble an hour later than the Commons. 

While I was present in the gallery of the Lords there were 
two bills discussed. One was the Administration of Justice 
Bill. On it I heard speeches made by Lord Lyndhurst, (the 
only American by birth in the Upper House,) Lord Cran- 
worth, (the Lord Chancellor,) Lord Campbell, and Lord 
Brougham. The other bill which was discussed was the 
University of Cambridge bill. On it I heard speeches by 
the Ijord Chancellor, by Lord Lyndhurst, by the Bishop of 
Chester, (the Bight Beverend J. Graham,) by Lord Lyttle- 
ton, by Lord Berners, by the Bishop of London, (the Bight 
Beverend C. J. Blomfield,) by the Bishop of St. David's, 
(the Bight Beverend Connop Thirlwal,) and by Earl Powis. 
None of the speeches, I judge, exceeded half an hour in 
length. Twenty-eight bishops and three archbishops have 
the privilege of a seat in this branch of the British Legisla- 
ture, and of these about one half were present. The lay 
nobility, — these at present numbering, leaving out of the 
count the Irish and Scotch non-representative peers, about 
four hundred and forty-six persons, — wear, in their seats, 
their ordinary dress ; but the bishops, as well as their having 
a particular part of the house appropriated to them, are 
robed in their episcopal costume. I observed that the de- 



178 TRAVELS IN PRANCE 

bates in the Lords' House, on the night on which I attended, 
were still more imperfectly reported in the newspapers than 
those in the Commons'. Thus, the speeches of Lords Broug- 
ham and Campbell, which, of any made, were of the greatest 
length and of much ability, were disposed of in half a dozen 
sentences. This was, I suppose, mainly because the discus- 
sions on the war had swallowed up the interest of the public 
in all other questions. 

Of the Peers of the British Islands I would say, from what 
I saw of them, that they are about the reverse of the United 
States Senate, a body, I would remark in a passing way, that, 
on its floor, has often embraced talent of the highest order. 
In this latter assembly, I have seen a man, representing an in- 
fluential State, to stand up in his place, and, putting his hat 
on his desk, pull a manuscript out of his pocket and place it 
across his hat, and then proceed to read the long tedious 
pamphlet with the driest composure possible. Yet was the 
bad, dry reader of a quite long, dull pamphlet, listened to 
with what I may call apathetic respect, — a respect, how- 
ever, that if often repeated, in cases of being thus imposed 
on, involves the sacrifice, on the part of the body exhibiting 
it, of a good share of its collective dignity. On the other 
hand, I have seen an able speech delivered in the happiest 
manner, drowned by the under-talk of a hundred and fifty 
lords ; though I was led to understand, I ought to add, that 
this conduct was intended as an expression of disapproba- 
tion of an unbecoming act of which the man thus rebuked 
had been guilty out of doors. The American Senate is 
about the best body to listen, or at least to seem to listen, 
in the world, and the British House of Lords seemed to me, 
at least on the occasion referred to, about one of the worst. 
And, if I were to extend the contrast, which I have been in- 
stituting, to the lower houses of legislation in Britain and 
America, I would say that the British Commons will listen to 
sensible talking or debating, particularly where the speaker 
is not diffuse, but not to anything else ; and that the American 
House of Bepresentatives will read, and rustle with news- 
papers throughout the whole period of the most diffuse and 
dullest speechification without any manifestation whatever of 
impatience, while even to quite good speaking, more espe- 
cially if on the unacceptable side of a subject, it is about the 
most leather-headed audience in existence. I speak from 



AND THE BRITISH ISLANDS. 179 

what I myself have witnessed in all these legislative assem- 
blies. I may, however, be in error, as I was present at the 
debates, whether in Westminster or Washington, only dur- 
ing something, respectively, like half a dozen sittings ; some- 
thing less than this in the one case, and something more in 
the other. 

As to the House of Lords hearing cases as a court of 
law, I was present in it a part of a day, and, subsequently to 
this, an entire day. It presents altogether a different aspect 
at such a time from what it does when transacting business 
as a legislative body. When sitting in the latter capacity, 
on the evening on which I was present, there may have been 
one hundred and fifty members in attendance. When sitting 
as the Supreme Judicature of the British Islands, at the 
times when I was standing at its bar, there were, on the floor, 
only the Lord Chancellor and Lord Brougham on one occa- 
sion, and, on the other, only these two law lords and one or 
two other lords. When sitting in a legislative capacity, the 
movable sofa-like seat called the woolsack is removed to 
within about twenty feet of the end of the chamber most dis- 
tant from the bar, — the south end, where is the throne, — 
while, when sitting as a judicatory, this seat is placed at not 
more than twenty feet from said bar. The bar itself is a space 
separated from the main floor, at one of the ends of this floor, 
by a railing of about four and a half feet in height ; and it is 
allotted to auditors listening to legal pleadings. It extends 
only a part of the way across the chamber. To the right of 
it, and somewhat in advance of it, is a long rostrum in which 
the lawyers stand while addressing the Lord Chancellor and 
his fellow-lords. In the bar there are no seats, so that one has 
to stand all the time. I heard a number of eminent lawyers 
address their lordships. The style of speaking was e^iceed- 
ingly simple, plain, unadorned, condensed, logical, andlucid, 
though inanimate ; and there was no attempt at appeal to the 
affections, sympathies, prejudices, or interests, of the judges. 
It was everything but eloquent, (in the ordinary sense of this 
word,) and yet it was admirable in its way. It called up to 
my recollection Blair's sermons, but that, while it was less 
beautiful, and, in a moral point of view, less high-toned, it 
was plainer, more logical, and more direct. Such speaking 
is exceedingly unlike any eloquence that I have ever listened 
to at the American bar. The most important case that I 



180 TRAVELS IN FRANCE 

heard argued, and this only in part, was an appeal from a 
Scotch railway company as to its right, if I understood cor- 
rectly, under its charter, to hold certain property necessary 
to it, as it alleged, in order to its answering the purpose for 
which it had been called into being. — The Grangers' gallery 
in the Lords' is directly over the bar of their lordships' House, 
and over the rostrum of the lawyers. 

I will occupy the sequel of this letter with such miscella- 
neous observations connected with the general subject on 
which I have been writing, as may present themselves to my 
mind. 

First, as to the chambers, or apartments, in which the two 
houses of Parliament assemble, I remark that both of them 
are rectangles or oblongs ; that the length of the apartment 
in which the Peers assemble is ninety-seven feet, its width 
forty-five feet, and its height the same as its width ; and that 
the apartment in which the Commons hold their sittings is 
somewhat smaller than that of the Lords', but having nearly 
the same proportions. The Lords' chamber is one of the most 
superb and richly decorated rooms in the world. In it the 
blaze of crimson and gold, beneath a ceiling of rich blue, 
fairly dazzles the unaccustomed eye of the beholder. The 
Commons' chamber, also, is handsomely ornamented, though 
plain when compared with that of the Lords'. Both apart- 
ments, as in the case with the largest number of Christian 
churches, have been evidently formed after the pattern of the 
Roman Basilica, a thing which has already been made evident 
in what I have above said of their shape and proportions. 
They are most admirably constructed for easy and pleasant 
public speaking. Also, they are happily contrived for the 
accommodating of those members who prefer listening to 
speal4ng, the benches, (which run lengthwise, which have no 
desks, and which, in the lower house, have green cushions, and 
in the upper, crimson,) being apparently very comfortable fix- 
tures of their sort. I was not in the House of Lords after 
night, so that I cannot say how, at the time of darkness, it is 
lighted, but the House of Commons has a transparent ceiling, 
and it is through it that it is lighted. Ladies, though they 
have access to the Lords', are not admissible, by the rules of 
the house, into the Commons' ; but, to compensate them for 
this, there is a gallery behind the Speaker's chair, — which 
gallery is separated from the main apartment by a partition 



AND THE BRITISH ISLANDS. 181 

of ornamented glass, — and into this they are received. One, 
from the strangers' gallery, can plainly see the dim figures of 
ladies looking through their glass wall at the house in ses- 
sion, and listening to the debates. I cannot help remarking 
that the absence of desks, though attended with some uncom- 
fortableness, does much to make good debating by contribut- 
ing to prevent the reading of manuscript pamphlets, and it 
also hastens the dispatch of business by giving no facilities 
for letter-writing and newspaper reading. From what I have 
said it will be perceived that the hall of the British House 
of Commons is quite a different sort of apartment from the 
hall of the American House of Representatives. The latter 
apartment, instead of being rectangular, is well known to be 
semicircular, and, instead of having a ceiling of a moderate 
height, is covered by a lofty concavity like the inside of a 
dome. The fact seems to be that the hall of the House of 
Representatives was modeled after the '' Salle des Seances" in 
the palace of the French National Assembly, without making 
any allowance for difference of circumstances or of usages. 
In the French room spoken of, the tribune for the speakers 
is in the centre, and from this point, and from this alone, it 
is easy for a speaker to make himself everywhere heard ; but 
in the American hall each man addresses the house from 
near the spot in which he sits, and the consequence is that 
the shape of the house dissipates his voice, or at the best, 
makes him heard at many seats with difficulty. 

Secondly, I will make, as to the two houses, an observa- 
tion or two in relation to the dignity of deportment main- 
tained in discussion, the value of matter entering into the 
speeches, the manifestation of scholarship on the part of the 
various debaters, and the rapidity with which business is 
transacted. 

The members, both of the Upper House and of the Lower, 
while I was there, manifested, I must say, a propriety of 
conduct, and an elevation of mien, not easily surpassed. I 
have seen many bodies in session in the United States, both 
political and ecclesiastical, and, to say the least, have never 
seen any to surpass in dignity the commoners of the British 
Islands. The same thing I would say, with equal emphasis, 
of the lords ; and yet, on the occasion on which I was pre- 
sent, I thought that the chit-chat, in which they indulged 
during a part of the time, was well adapted to sink their 

15 



182 TRAVELS IN FRANCE 

reputation in the estimation of the staid part of the com- 
munity. This, however, lasted only a brief time. Never- 
theless, it was different conduct from what I expected. And 
I would remark, whatever may be the defects of the heredi- 
tary house, that those who have the best opportunity of 
knowing it, all unite in ascribing to it, and this greatly be- 

P fore the other house, the utmost propriety and loftiness of 
deportment. With respect to the deportment of the com- 
moners, I had sometimes seen it affirmed in travels, and 
often in letters in American newspapers, that it was, at times, 
rude, as, to wit : their lying down oh benches, and sticking 
their feet up on the cushions. I must say that I did not 
see anything of either»sort on the three nights, and part of a 
fourth, of protracted debate, through which I was present, 

^e though the attendance during most of the time was full. 
There is, on each side of the house, a gallery running from 
the strangers' gallery, — which latter is in the end : these side 
galleries belong to the members, not as being a part of the 
house, but as a place of retirement, and to them I have seen 
members come up, and there lie down. Such lying down on 
benches and cushions as this, most certainly is by no means 
offensive. 

I remark, with respect to the character of the matter en- 
tering into the speeches made in the two houses of Parlia- 
ment, that it is almost invariably to the point discussed and 
of considerable value. Almost every new speaker gives new 
facts or arguments. And there is very little going over of 
the same ground a second time. 

As to the scholarship displayed, I observe that it is to be 
seen generally only in the discipline of mind, and talent for 
arrangement and condensation, which characterize the vari- 
ous speakers. The members of the two houses are possessed 
almost invariably of respectable literary attainments, and 
not a few are eminent for scholarship and science. Yet I 
saw no proud exhibitions of these things in debate, whether 
in the form of learned quotations or in any other form. 

And, as to the quickness with which business is transacted, 
I observe that the British Legislature, in both of its branches, 
deserves high laudation. While time enough is allotted to 
debate, there is no useless talk. In France, I found that 
those who professed to justify Louis Napoleon in overthrow- 
ing the legislature, did this, in part, on the ground that its 



AND THE BRITISH ISLANDS. 183 

members talked too much. Perhaps, of those who spoke in 
this way, not a few intentionally used language of a double 
sense ; some meaning that by too much talking the Chamber 
of Deputies made itself so contemptible that it ought not to 
be any longer endured, and others meaning that while it was 
debating it ought to have been acting so as to have antici- 
pated the blow under which it fell. But, however this may 
be, the charge of talking too much cannot, with any pro- 
priety, be brought against the two houses of Parliament. 
They are strictly business-doing bodies, and their debates 
are strictly discussions in order to action. In this point of 
view, they will compare, by no means unfavorably, with the 
American Congress. They have none of the long speeches 
read from manuscripts ; (I mean in ordinary times ;) none of 
the long oral speeches running through the good part of a 
whole day, and to each of which a speech equally long will 
be made in reply days after ; and not anything of the wasting 
of time in calling for the ayes and nays, and in perversely 
but ingeniously raising points of order, which, together with 
other time-consuming expedients of an analogous character, 
make up at least a portion of the legislative doings in Wash- 
ington. The result is that most of the important debates in 
Parliament, as reported in an abridged form in the metro- 
politan gazettes, are given, with less or more abridgement, 
in all the newspapers of the British Islands, (even in those 
published in the most remote districts,) while not one news- 
paper out of twenty, perhaps, in the United States, attempts 
to give its readers more, as to the discussions in Washing- 
ton, than an epistle from that city, or occasionally it may 
treat them to a single isolated speech. 

It now only remains, before concluding this letter," that, 
in connection with the miscellaneous observations which I 
have just been making, I observe as to the style of speaking 
of some of the speakers in the two parliamentary halls. In 
doing this I will be compelled to make a selection, omitting 
the mention of several who would be as worthy of notice as 
most of those whom I will name. Also, I will not speak of 
any one whom I myself did not hear address the house of 
which he is a member. In the remarks I am about to make 
I will take the two houses in order. 

I begin, having first visited them, with the Commons. In 
this body I find a difficulty in fixing on any particular per- 



184 TRAVELS IN FRANCE 

son with wliom I ouglit to make a commencement in my re- 
marks. Perhaps it will be better in the first instance to fix 
on one who, though he may not be the oldest member in the 
house, yet is considerably the senior of most of those who 
now sit around him. 

Sir James Graham, (whom I have already named as one 
of those that I heard speak,) is now quite an aged man, and 
he has long maintained a prominent position among the 
most respectable of the public men of England. In his 
speaking he makes no pretensions to oratory, nor, on the 
occasion when I heard him, did he seem solicitous to appear 
as a close logical reasoner. He has, however, a good and 
portly person, though now stooped with years ; a distinct 
and agreeable voice and utterance ; an appearance of sin- 
cerity; fluency; and much parliamentary experience; and 
makes a plausible, lucid, and well arranged speech. I was 
told that he is much inferior to himself as he once was. He 
advocated an arrangement of the difficulties with Russia as 
soon as practicable. 

Mr. Bright is one of the leading advocates of the peace 
policy in the Lower Plouse. I could not see him while speak- 
ing, nor was the speech, that I heard him make, the main 
speech that he made in relation to the war. I thus had not 
a full chance of forming an opinion of his style of oratory. 
One part of his speech sent a thrill over the entire assembly. 
As a speaker he seemed to me to excel most in vehement 
argumentative denunciation. He is ilndoubtedly a very 
able and eloquent man, perhaps an orator. 

I heard Mr. Cobden speak. He is a good, forcible, 
ready, and strong debater. The substance of his speech was 
very excellent. He was, however, on the occasion of which 
I speak, very brief in his remarks. 

Mr. Gladstone made a brief speech. He is certainly one 
of the sweetest and most natural of speakers to whom I ever 
listened. His words flowed from him like honey. 

I heard the Attorney-General, Sir Alexander Cockburn, 
who is yet quite youthful in his appearance, make a speech. 
A lawyer, who has to tug all day at the oar of drudgery and 
weariness in his laborious profession, has a very unequal 
chance in the struggles of British politics. He, however, 
acquitted himself well. As to gesture, voice, and fluency, I 
do not recollect to have seen him surpassed. For a lawyer, 



AND THE BRITISH ISLANDS. 185 

be appeared very modest. His fault, as it seemed to me, 
Avas a somewhat of pomposity and verbosity. 
. I heard Sir F. Thesiger, (the intended Lord Chancellor of 
England, of the Conservatives,) address the house, who made, 
as 1 thought, a very able lawyer-like speech, though in the 
delivery of it he seemed to me like a man tired and worn 
down with application to business. The conclusion to which 
I came in relation to him is, that if he were to devote him- 
self thoroughly to politics, (he is a lawyer of very great emi- 
nence,) he would soon be one of the first men in the house. 

Again, I heard Lord John Russell make his speech in ex- 
planation and defence of his conduct during the Vienna con- 
ferences. I had seen accounts of him as a speaker in the 
House of Commons, in which it was said that he had to 
strain his voice in order to be heard. I was pleased to find 
on this occasion that this was by no means the case. Every 
word he spoke was heard without the slightest effort on the 
part of his auditors. His style is very neat and perspicuous, 
but, though his positions and attitudes are pleasing, he uses 
no gesture whatever. It seemed as if he spoke under reserve, 
unwilling to employ all the facts and arguments at his com- 
mand. His air of address had about it, as I thought, some- 
thing cold, proud, and condescending. He undoubtedly is 
a man, though no orator, whose eloquence would command 
attention in almost any circumstances, or from any audience, 
whether coarse or polished. 

Again, I also heard the Premier, Lord Palmerston, speak. 
He stammers a good deal at the beginning of his speeches, 
and somewhat even after he has begun. But I do not think 
that every political chief must necessarily be an eminent pub- 
lic speaker. It is enough if he speak so as to give his views 
to his audience perspicuously and without tediousness. And 
of this Lord Palmerston is entirely capable. He has a me- 
mory at once ready and retentive. Of this I saw an exam- 
ple in a struggle between him and D'Israeli, in which, though 
1) 'Israeli is greatly his superior as a debater, he worsted 
this champion of the Conservatives, correcting his state- 
ments, and doing everything but make him acknowledge in 
words his errors. This little occurrence illustrated to me 
the advantage of ministers, and their opponents, sitting face 
to face. Otherwise the matter might have been mystified 
in documents and newspapers, unendingly. It also illus- 

L5* 



186 TRAVELS IN FRANCE 

trated the temper of the British House of Commons. In it 
a leader best consults his standing with his political friends 
by substantially retracting, and an honorable antagonist will 
not ask more, any erroneous statement that he may have 
made, rather than by wasting the time of the house through 
the having of recourse to misrepresentations and perplexed 
involutions. Lord Palmerston, though not a great public 
speaker, is quite a wit. Indeed his witticisms often flow 
forth on all occasions, a circumstance which his opponents 
do not fail to turn to good account, charging him with levity, 
and even affirming him to be incapable of treating the 
gravest matters in a serious way. He is now considerably 
advanced in years. 

Besides, I cannot pass D'Israeli by, without making to 
him a special reference ; the only other member of the Com- 
mons of whom, in addition to those that have been already 
named, I will now speak This man, I was told, though I 
do not know how truly, is the son of, or at least nearly de- 
scended from, an Eastern Jew. He has a marked Jewish 
physiognomy.*- As a literary man, it is well known, he is 
quite distinguished. But he has long since, in a good de- 
gree, abandoned literature for politics. He is not an orator, 
he is not even fluent, or at least he was not on the occasion 
of which I speak, and yet every one of his speeches tells. I 
have heard him speak on, — on, — for more than an hour, 
hesitating occasionally, and even sometimes stumbling ; and 
while I could not admire his eloquence, yet I could not help 
listening; nor was I, singular in this, for the attention of 
every other person, — and that on a subject that had been 
long debated, — was enchained as well as mine ; and, when 
he had done, I was fall of the impression that I had been 
hearing a very uncommon man. He is now the leader of 
the opposition in the Lower House,^and most uncompro- 
mising he is, in this capacity, with his antagonists. I must 
say, while I was a looker-on, he let very little pass without 
exercising his vocation. Thus, more than once, I have heard 
a member of the administration make what would seem a 
very lucid explanation of something that had been excepted 
to in the doings of the government, and express, in con- 
cluding his explanation, the hope that what he had been 
saying was satisfactory. But not so. D'Israeli would at 
once reply, "Most unsatisfactory, sir." 



AND THE BRITISH ISLANDS. 18t 

Before passing to the Lords, I would say that Macaulay, 
the member for Edinburgh, though, I believe, present, did 
not speak, a thing for which I felt regret, as I much desired 
to listen to the oratory of the eloquent essayist and histo- 
rian. There were, also, many other members whom I would 
have been gratified to hear, but I felt that it was time for 
me now to stop attendance in the gallery of the Commons. 

I now proceed to the Lords, restricting my remarks to 
four of the speakers that I heard in that body. 

I heard Lord Lyndhurst speak. This nobleman, it is 
well known, is the son of the self-taught Boston portrait- 
painter, John Singleton Copley, who, in lt14, going to Italy 
to improve himself, sent for his wife and family to meet him 
in London, on his way, returning to America. His eldest 
son, now Lord Lyndhurst, was then a child ; and, the family 
being detained in England in consequence of the war which 
was about beginning between the mother country and her 
colonies, he grew up in England, became eminent at Cam- 
bridge as a scholar, studied law, rose to eminence in his pro- 
fession, was elected a member of the House of Commons, 
and finally was commissioned Lord High Chancellor of Eng- 
land. He is very aged, yet his speeches show considerable 
vigor of mind still remaining. He was listened to with per- 
fectly mute attention. 

The Bishop of Chester, as perhaps the best speaker of 
any of the bishops that I heard address their lordships' 
House, ought to receive a notice. He spoke for about 
twenty minutes ; and he certainly displayed very respectable 
talents, — perhaps I ought to say talents of a very high order, 
— for oratory. A good person, a dignified and graceful de- 
meanor, a fine voice well modulated, good language, a not 
too rapid, and yet voluble utterance, and a train of thought 
distinguished by good sense, all characterize him. Yet he 
stood stock-still, scarcely moving even a finger. And his 
speech might perhaps be said to resemble, at least slightly, 
a beautiful highly polished piece of mahogany from the 
hands of the turner, such as I have seen, protuberant in the 
middle, and growing gracefully less toward both ends. 

I heard Lord Campbell make a speech. He acquits him- 
self remarkably well, and indeed greatly excels as a logical 
speaker ; nor has he almost anything of a Scottish accent. 
His language is plain and perspicuous, yet occasionally or- 



188 TRAVELS IN TRANCE 

nate. When hearing him address the House, though, of 
course, ignorant who he was, I was at once struck with the 
happy facility with which he grappled his subject. This 
man, who is the son of a Scottish clergyman that resided in 
a town in a remote part of Scotland, came to London with 
no advantages but that of a very good education ; never- 
theless, by talents, probity, and industry, has he raised him- 
self to his present eminence, beginning his metropolitan 
career as a reporter for a newspaper, and ascending step by 
step to the highest place among the luminaries of the bar 
and the bench, and, I may add, of the senate. I may truth- 
fully say that I have seldom seen a man more capable than 
he of making a straightforward, powerful and convincing 
speech. 

The only other member of the House of Lords, in relation 
to whom I will write to you, is Lord Brougham. The re- 
putation of this man, as a senatorial orator, exceeds that of 
any man living. Long was he not only the most eloquent 
pleader at the English bar, but, by way of eminence, the 
orator of the House of Commons. In person he is tall and 
thin : when he was in the act of speaking his frame seemed 
to be slightly subject to the affection of a nervous influence. 
I had met with accounts in which he was described as care- 
less in his dress and ungainly in his figure. On four occa- 
sions on which I had an opportunity to view him at leisure, 
this was far from the impression made on me : he was taste- 
fully dressed, and bore, to me, the appearance of a good-look- 
ing old gentleman. To me he called up, both as to his dress 
and his person, the late venerable president of Cannonsburg 
College, in Western Pennsylvania, Dr. B. I must say that 
I thought the likeness very striking. The speech that I 
heard him make was in relation to the improvement of the ad- 
ministration of justice; with him, for very many years, in one 
shape or another, a favorite theme. I have heard a great 
many orators both European and American, and have tried 
to recall one that I could view as his equal in all respects, 
and I neither could nor can recall any such one. He has 
an excellent voice, perfect fluency and command of language, 
a perspicuous and expressive phraseology, a facility in mar- 
shaling ingenious and forcible argument, promptness and 
force of sarcasm, and a vigorous, impassioned style of reason- 
ing. As he stood on the richly carpeted floor, without desk 



AND THE BRITISH ISLANDS. 189 

or seat before him to conceal him from my view, delivering 
his oration with sufficiently graceful and very animated ges- 
ticulation, he appeared to me the human embodiment of 
argument and eloquence blended together. Yet, in a ros- 
trum, or behind a desk, his peculiar style of gesturing would 
have been impossible, most of his gestures rising no higher 
than the middle of his body, but, for a speaker on an open 
floor, they were very appropriate and appeared to great ad- 
vantage. Though now of an advanced age, and, as he 
said, afflicted with broken health, he speaks with the vigor 
and directness of youthful days. 

I conclude this epistle by subscribing myself 

Yours, &c., M. F. 

P. S. — There is a circumstance which has occurred to me 
as worth being noticed ; there is no crowding of the lobbies 
by outsiders in the British Parliament House. It is well 
known that in Washington, on at least a number of occa- 
sions, it has been diJGTerent. There, a multitude have gathered 
in these places during exciting debates, and when particular 
speakers have risen, they have.crowded into the galleries to 
hear them, and when others have risen, they have with- 
drawn. A factitious reputation, the thing aimed at, has 
thus sometimes been dishonestly given to middling men, 
while a reputation fairly deserved has been held back from 
others. This system of giving, through the instrumentality 
of the galleries, to some men an artificial prominence, has 
here no ^istence. Indeed, in this connection, I would re- 
mark, that I am doubtful whether there is almost any other 
country in which reputation, professional or political, has 
less to do with the actual character of its subject than the 
United States. 

I would here add the mention of a small adventure that 
happened to me on the last night of my attendance to hear 
the debates in the Lower House. After the House broke 
up, and while on my way to my hotel, (it having come on to 
blow and rain when I was about passing Temple Bar,) as I 
was crossing London Bridge, at near the middle of it, — at 
which place there is a recess in its upper parapet, — several 
men, who had been concealed, stepped out to impede my 
way. However, happening to have a small but efficient 
weapon in my hand, they saw proper to slink back to the 



190 TRAVELS IN FRANCE 

stone bench on which they had been sitting. When I had 
gotten some way over the bridge, I found the policeman, 
who ought to have been walking to and fro on the thorough- 
fare over which I had just passed, quietly taking tea, in the 
street, — the storm having a good deal abated,^ — at a small 
table kept by some petty vender of night refreshments. 



NO. XXL 



Journey to Bangor — Towns on "Railroad — Cars — Chester — Inn in Bangor — The Town — 
Inhabitants are, &c. — Excursion to Penrhyn Slate Quarries — Island of Anglesea — 
Wire Suspension Bridge — Tubular Bridge — Description — Historical Associations — 
Roman Slab — Beaumaris. 

Bangor, June, 1855. 

I LEFT my hotel near London Bridge early on the morn- 
ing of the 14th, and arrived at this place in the evening. 

As to my journey thus far, I would remark that the rail- 
road passes through portions i)f the following counties : Mid- 
dlesex, Hereford, Buckingham, Northampton, Warwick, 
Stafford, and Cheshire, in England ; and Flint, Denbigh, and 
Carnarvon, in Wales, — the town from which I date this 
letter being situated in the county last named. It is a little 
more than two hundred and fifty miles distant from London, 
in a northwest direction. The chief towns by which I passed 
in coming hither are Rugby, on the Upper Avon, (over 
which beautiful affluent of the Severn the railroad crosses ;) 
Tamworth, a very industrious and prosperous town, (noted, 
in former times, as the place near which the army of the 
Duke of Richmond encamped shortly before defeating the 
stern and harsh but heroic Richard III., in the battle of 
Bosworth Field, and, in our times, as being so long repre- 
sented by Sir Robert Peel, the well-known statesman;) 
Crewe, distinguished as a railroad centre; Chester; (of 
which I will not say anything, since I cannot stop to say 
enough;) Holywell, noted for its spring that sends up 
twenty-one tons of the purest water every minute ; and Con- 
way, famous for its tubular bridge, and its embattled walls 
and noble old feudal fortress. To look at a large map of 
England, one would think that our train must have made its 



AND THE BRITISH ISLANDS. 191 

way in that country, over at least three ranges of mountains, 
to bring its living freight from the valley of the Thames to 
this place ; yet, in spite of all the accuracy of maps, I did 
not see a single mountain, and even few considerable eleva- 
tions, until I entered Wales, but, on the contrary, all the 
distance was an almost uninterrupted succession of hedge- 
rows and large green fields. Almost the entire country in 
England seemed as highly cultivated and as productive as 
Lancaster County, in Pennsylvania, and more verdant and 
beautiful. Also, the weather was warm, sunshiny, and every 
way agreeable. Besides, I felt no dread of railroad acci- 
dents, for such are the precautions taken, that these (except 
from the train taking fire) are nearly impossible. I have 
seldom put in, during my life, a more agreeable time than 
while on this journey. After entering Wales, however, the 
land began to be thin, ridgy, and poor, and the country to 
appear mountainous. Indeed, for a long distance through 
Wales, we had first the Estuary of the Dee and then the 
Irish Sea on the one hand, and low mountains or ridges on 
the other. 

There are two things of which I will speak more particu- 
larly in this letter : first, the railroad and its accommoda- 
tions ; and, secondly, this town and the objects of interest 
in its vicinity. 

As to the line of railroad extending from Euston Station, 
in London, to Bangor, close by the Menai Strait, in Wales, 
I observe that, as a railroad, it may be equaled but cannot 
be surpassed. The French roads are equal to it, though I 
must say that I have never yet seen any road in America at 
all to be compared. The track or trainway is double, the 
rails are heavy and strongly put down, and not anything 
seems to be wanting. Along the road are signals at every 
brief distance, to secure against accidents ; also numerous 
sentinels are posted ; a telegraph is connected with the 
various stations ; no two trains following each other are 
permitted to come within a certain fixed distance, the one 
of the other ; the engineers are skillful ; and all the axles, 
wheels, and machinery, are kept in perfect repair. As to 
the cars, I would remark that, both in England and France, 
they are different from those that we meet with in the United 
States. In the former countries they are divided into apart- 
ments of the size of the interior of a common carriage, while 



192 TRAVELS IN FRANCE 

in the latter country there will be twenty or thirty seats in 
one long space. This difference in the styles of accommoda- 
tion grows out of difference of climate, as the small divisions 
spoken of are incapable of ventilation to suit very warm 
weather, and also of being properly heated in times of in- 
tense cold. Again, there are here three classes of cars, 
while with you there are only two ; the first class here being 
superb, but the second class, on many roads, by no means so 
good as it would be to be desired that they should be. Be- 
sides, in the carrying of baggage here, there is no giving of 
checks, so that, in this respect, the English have something 
valuable to learn. 

I will now ask you to come with me to this town and its 
neighborhood. 

Let me first take you to the inn in which I am staying. 
It is a house of no very large dimensions, (of two stories 
high,) standing down a deep bank, and at a brief distance 
from the railway station. Inside it is quite comfortable 
though plain. Indeed it is not unlike the respectable class 
of country public houses in Pennsylvania, only that less 
liquor, so far as I have seen, is sold in it than is generally 
the case there. It stands at a short distance from the town, 
and is quite retired for a house of the sort. 

As to the town itself, I observe that it is situated in a 
ridgy valley of a soil poor and stony for the most part, yet 
it is a valley quite romantic in its scenery, though, in this re- 
spect, inferior to many of the valleys that lie among the 
Alleghany Mountains, as it is very far their inferior in fer- 
tility. The inhabitants, who are, to a large extent, of the 
race of the ancient Britons, are very industrious, and mostly 
seem to live quite as comfortably as persons of similar classes 
in society do in the United States. One curious thing about 
them is that the women all, or large numbers of them, wear 
hats, like men, a fashion prevailing throughout the entire prin- 
cipality of Wales. The character of the town, — which has a 
population of about six thousand five hundred, — has a cor- 
respondence with that of the valley in which it is situated. 
It does not seem wealthy nor well built, yet the houses are 
good and substantial buildings of stone, and the dwellers in 
them appear to travel along the road of life quite comfort- 
abl}^ It consists of a single long street, on which is situated 
the cathedral, an edifice first built in the sixth century, and 



AND THE BRITISH ISLANDS. 193 

which was rebuilt in the reign of Henry YII., though not 
completed till 1532. It also contains a town-hall, an epis- 
copal residence, and an excellent school. 

On the morning after my arrival, I drove out, in company 
with two young men from Manchester, to the Penrhyn slate 
quarries, which lie about six miles from the town. In going 
thither we passed by Penrhyn Castle, a magnificent modern 
erection, and a very striking object in the landscape. These 
quarries were opened in 1782 ; and now, in some years, two 
thousand men are employed in them, and the income from 
them is £20,000 sterling per year. The proprietor has made 
a single-track railroad out to them, but it is not fitted to be 
used for any other purpose than that of carrying slates. 
They are situated in a very barren vicinity. They consist 
of a large, hollow space, which has been made thus vacant 
by quarrying out the stone, from which space narrow roads 
or galleries ascend spirally, one rising above another. At 
the time at which a number of simultaneous blasts is about 
to take place, (the blasts being always made simultaneously,) 
a horn is sounded, when each man takes to cover ; then the 
matches are applied ; and in a brief time numerous explosions 
take place in all directions, loosening immense masses of the 
slate rock. The thing had on me a startling effect. 

I have also, while here, been out on an excursion over 
the Menai Strait, to the Island of Anglesea, by the Menai 
Suspension Bridge, and, at the same time, I visited and ex- 
amined the Tubalar Bridge, and ought, therefore, I sup- 
pose, to be qualified in some degree to say something of 
these things. 

The Island of Anglesea is twenty-four miles long and 
seventeen broad. Of an island so large, I could see but little 
in a few hours. It is said to be fertile, though I must say 
that this was not, in general, the impression made on me 
by what I saw. The southeastern part of the island bore, 
much of it, the aspect of something making somewhat of an 
approach to barrenness, while the face of the country seemed 
very much destitute of trees. The first object on the island, 
or one of the first ol)jects, that strikes the eye of a visitor as 
it wanders along the rocky shore, is a small picturesque 
church of great antiquity, called the Landysilio Church, situ- 
ated on a small rocky peninsula jutting out into the water, 
and forming at high-water a small islet. Another object 

16 



194 TRAVELS IN FRANCE 

that strongly attracts attention is a lofty monument erected 
to commemorate the part taken by the Marquis of Anglesea 
in the battle of Waterloo. Then there is, along the strait, 
the proud mansion of the Marquis of Anglesea, and, not 
very far from it, the less pretending but beautiful residence 
of his son, or brother, Lord Paget. But when one passes 
away from these places the country comes to exhibit an ap- 
pearance by no means so inviting. Yet with all this I have 
no doubt that the statements usually made as to the island, 
that, taken as a whole, it is fertile, are correct. 

As to the Wire Suspension Bridge, I remark that it is 
situated about two or three miles from this town. To it I 
went on foot, and by it, as I have said, crossed to Anglesea. 
This work was begun by Mr. Provis, resident engineer, on 
the 10th of August, 1820 ; on the 26th of April, 1825, under 
the direction of Mr. Telford, the architect who conducted 
the building of the bridge, was the first chain, in the presence 
of a great multitude, carried across the strait ; and, on 
January 30, 1826, the general opening took place by the 
passing across of the Holyhead mail-coach with the mail for 
Dublin, — this event having been made matter of great public 
eclat. The road on the bridge consists of two carriage- 
ways of twelve feet each, with a foot-path of four feet in the 
centre. The arches are one hundred feet above the water 
below, so that large vessels can sail through. The entire 
length of the chain, from the point of its being fastened on 
one shore to the point of its being fastened on the other, is 
1715 feet ; the width of the great central arch, where the chan- 
nel is unsuitable for piers, is 560 feet ; and the weight of the 
part of the structure that hangs suspended over this wide 
space, is 489 tons. Moreover, besides this great suspension 
arch, the bridge has seven stone arches, each 52^ feet in span. 

I would remark that, from the structure of which I have 
been speaking, by looking S.S.E., the venerable summit of 
Snowden can be seen. Also, I would remark, being guided 
in this matter by the description of the spot by Tacitus, that 
it was where it has been reared, or very near by, that the 
Komans, under Paulinus Suetonius, crossed to Anglesea, 
when about to destroy the Druids. 

As to the Tubular or Britannia Bridge, which is distant 
about a mile from the one just described, I observe that, 
even after it, it bursts like a wonder upon the astonished 



AND THE BRITISH ISLANDS. 195 

vision. Even the Thames Tunnel fails to produce such an 
impression. There, there hangs suspended the vast iron 
tube, or rather tubes, supported by vast piles of masonry 
that look as strong as the pillars of Hercules ! This 
sublime work, the fruit of the engineering of Robert Ste- 
phenson, M.P., F.R.S., was commenced in 1846, and the 
undertaking was completed, so as to admit the passage of 
cars, in March, 1850. Now that it is completed, it may be 
pronounced the boldest achievement of modern science. 
Beside it, except as to duration, the Chinese wall and the 
pyramids of Egypt are insignificant. The width of the 
Menai Strait, at this spot, I would judge to be about 1800 
feet. To throw a tube of iron over such a chasm as this, 
even after stone-work had been carried out from the shores 
on each side as far as this could be done, would have been 
impossible, had it not been that an immense rock exists in the 
depth of the channel, on which rock a huge mass of masonry 
has been reared to sustain the bridge in spanning the width 
of the waters, on either hand of it. The structure consists 
of two vast piles of masonry, one on each shore ; of two 
great piers, one of which is off from each of these piles ; and 
of an additional vast pile of masonry, reared on the rock 
jus.t spoken of; with ponderous iron tubes connecting the 
piles on the shores with the piers and with the pile of stone- 
work, or tower, on the rock in the channel between them. 
The thing, in miniature, may be illustrated thus : take a 
very long barrel of a rifle and lay it across a portion of a 
stream to a rock, and place another barrel equally long be- 
side it; and then take another barrel and lay it from this 
rock to the opposite shore, with another barrel beside it, 
and you have what will give you a crude idea of the bridge. 
Indeed, if the intervening space between the barrels laid 
side by side, were, to a considerable extent, cut out, so that 
the instrument, instead of two muzzles and bores, would 
have only one muzzle and bore, if the barrels instead of four 
were made eight, and if two railway tracks were laid through 
the long orifice, you would have something like an awkward 
miniature fac-simile of the tubular bridge of which I am 
speaking. "The whole length of the entire bridge, measur- 
ing from the extreme point of the wing-walls of the Carnar- 
von abutment to the extreme of the Anglesea abutment, is 
1834 feet and three inches." The abutment, on the Angle- 



196 TRAVELS IN FRANCE 

sea side of the Strait, is 143 feet in height and 1*73 feet in 
length ; that on the Carnarvon side being of a size to cor- 
respond, when the more favorable character of its ground 
has been taken into account. The height of the tower 
raised on the rock in the channel, which is the loftiest part 
of the structure, is 220 feet, while the height of the towers 
raised between this tower and the abutments is 203 feet. 
And as to the tubes, the four long ones are each 488 feet 
in length, — each weighing 1800 tons, — and the four short 
ones each 266 feet, — each weighing tOO tons. 

But I do not intend to write a pamphlet, in my letter, in 
relation to this work ; I will therefore content myself with 
throwing together, in a miscellaneous way, such facts as 
most forcibly strike me in regard to it. 

When approaching it from either shore, the visitor has 
first his attention drawn by two colossal lions which adorn 
each end of the wing-walls of the structure. These lions, 
which are Egyptian in character, are each twenty-five feet 
and six inches in length ; twelve feet and eight inches in 
height, though crouched ; nine feet in the greatest breadth 
across the body ; and two feet and four inches across each 
paw. They contain each 8000 cubic feet of stone, and each 
of them weighs above eighty tons. Connoisseurs in the art 
of sculpture pronounce these four leonine likenesses, lifting 
their limestone foreheads in defiance of the tempest and the 
storm, to be admirable in design and execution. Next, the 
visitor's attention may be very properly directed to the im- 
mense stones of the masonry, ranging in weight from one ton 
to twelve, and which it would seem impossible to move, but 
which, — such were the ingenuity, simplicity, and strength of 
the tackle used, — were raised to their places with perfect 
ease. Then, having looked at these things, he will of course 
proceed to contemplate the huge iron tubes, these being the 
indispensable parts of the bridge, for which all the other 
things connected with it exist. These tubes were not cast 
but worked, having been made of plates of iron of various 
thicknesses, riveted together, the riveting bolts having been 
put red-hot into their places. Nor were they manufactured 
where they now are, but were put together far below their 
present level and at some distance off the spot in which they 
now rest ; having been fabricated on immense wooden scaf- 
foldings, — of which scaffoldings the large ones contained, 



AND THE BRITISH ISLANDS. 19T 

each, 10,000 cubic feet of timber, and were held together, 
each, with twenty tons of iron bolts. When the work to be 
done on the huge tubular masses had been finished, then 
came the almost insuperable labor of raising the larger ones, 
(each of these being, as I have said, of 488 feet in length, 
and 1800 tons in weight,) off their scaffoldings, bringing 
them to the place where they were to be placed, and raising 
them to the requisite height. With unanticipated facility, 
however, this vast difficulty was surmounted. First, eight 
pontoons, or barges, capable of sustaining much more than 
the weight to be borne, were floated under each stage or 
scaffolding ; the ends of the tube to be raised having been 
made meanwhile to rest on temporary stone piers built for 
the purpose. In this state of matters, the rising tide, of 
course, lifted the monster freight. Next the barges were 
towed into the tideway, brought between two of the towers 
that had been built up, and made fast in such a position that 
the ends of the huge body were caused to come into grooves 
in said towers ; (at the bottom of each of which structures 
stones had been left out to admit these ends;) masonry, to 
support the incumbent weight, being immediately carried up 
in the afore-mentioned grooves. Next, but not till the rise 
of the tide had ceased to be available, the iron mass was 
raised to the proper height, or, as I would estimate, about 
seventy feet above the floors of the barges, by chains worked 
by huge and powerful hydraulic presses, stationed in the 
archways in the tops of the towers ; into which presses the 
water was injected by steam-engines. Thus was the aerial 
tunnel, step by step, brought to ascend to its altitude, — a tri- 
umph of mechanical skill and science unequaled. Nor, 
when it had been brought to its place, strong though it is, 
was it left to be merely self-supported between the masses of 
masonry. On the contrary, underneath it, were put iron 
girders and iron bed-plates, of enormous size and strength. 
But, on inspecting the bridge, the visitor will soon dis- 
cover that the making of the tubes of the necessary strength 
and tenacity, and the raising of them to their places, (though 
the main, and seemingly insurmountable ones,) are not the 
only diiiiculties to be vanquished. Metal expands with 
heat and contracts from cold, and this circumstance, if 
overlooked, might soon lead to great damage to the struc- 
ture. But all injury, from this cause, has been provided 

16* 



198 TRAVELS IN FRANCE 

against, by rollers having been interposed between the tubes 
and the bed-plates supporting them, and by balls of bell- 
metal put in in connection with the rollers ; the rollers and 
balls readily moving outward and inward as the iron mass 
expands and contracts by changes of temperature. With 
respect to this expansion and contraction, I observe that 
they can never extend downward ; but, on the contrary, the 
rays of the sun always cause the bridge to rise upward, to 
swell out at the sides, and to lengthen. I also observe, as 
to this matter, that the expansion, lengthwise, is at the 
rate of the one-thousandth part of the length of each tube 
for each fifteen degrees of Fahrenheit in increase of tem- 
perature. 

To what I have said in relation to this bridge, I will only 
add two or three more remarks having a reference to it. 

First, I remark, as to the shape of this iron tunnel, that it 
is not round, or what is, strictly speaking, called tubular, but 
approaching to square ; the depth of the large tubes at each 
end being twenty-three feet, and at the centre thirty feet ; 
and the width of each tube being fourteen feet and eight 
inches from outside to outside, — that is, the width of the 
entire tunnel, (it being composed of two tubes,) be?iig not 
very far from twenty-eight feet. Thus its shape is that of a 
double covered roadway of from twenty-three to thirty feet 
in height and of about twenty-eight feet in width. 

Again, as to the floors and roofs, I remark that they are 
formed of cells composed of iron plates set on edge, those of 
the roof being within a fraction of one foot and nine inches 
square, and those of the floor being one foot and nine inches 
wide, and two feet and three inches deep. It is on the cells 
of the floor that the rails on which the trains run are laid. 

Again, as to the strength of the bridge, I remark that, 
when it was about being opened, it was tested by the archi- 
tect, who passed over with a train laden, with iron and coal, 
to four times the weight of any burden that has since crossed 
it, himself being the engineer and only passenger ; and that 
the sinking of the tubes under this enormous pressure was 
only the half of an inch. 

Again, as to the height of the bridge above the strait, I 
observe that its floor rises above low-water 120 feet, and 
above high-water 100 feet. 

The only other remark, that before quitting this subject 



AND THE BRITISH ISLANDS. 199 

I will add, is that the ascent to the roof is made by a stair- 
case, (though a very steep one,) and that the view from it 
is magnificent in the extreme. 

I will conclade my epistle by referring, in a very few 
words, to some of the historical associations connected with 
this vicinity. 

All the accounts that we have of Britain such, as it was 
before it was invaded by the Romans, and at th§ time of 
this event, concur in representing the neighborhood in which 
I am now writing, especially the Island of Anglesea, as the 
grand seat of the British Druids, that mysterious sacerdotal 
caste which, in the gloomy days of heathenish superstition, 
led the worship of such of our ancestors as belonged to the 
ancient British races. 

This neighborhood, also, witnessed the presence of more 
than one Roman army. Hither, about a.d. 61, Paulinus 
Suetonius led his forces, making his way over the strait to 
the island which, after a severe battle, he succeeded in con- 
quering ; cutting down its sacred groves, and establishing in 
it a garrison. And from this time this part of Britain would 
have been included in the Roman Empire, if the war raised 
by Queen Boadicea had not almost immediately compelled 
its abandonment. 

Seventeen years after, Cneus Julius Agricola brought the 
Roman soldiery again to this district. On this occasion, in 
spite of their courage shown in a hard battle, the people of 
Anglesea were routed a second time, and it was in consequence 
of this defeat that their island was brought into complete 
and lasting subjection. It is here worthy of remark that it 
was by the very road between Bangor and Chester, on which 
the railroad is now put, and over which I have just traveled, 
that the Roman general, when marching to invade Scot- 
land, led away his army hence. Of the occupation of this 
territory by the Romans, evidences occasionally are still 
brought to light. Thus a stone of three feet and three 
inches in length has been discovered within two miles of the 
spot on which I am writing, this stone containing the fol- 
lowing inscription : 

M. Y. M. K C. 

Imp. Cassar M. Aurel. Antonius 

Pius. P. IX. Auc. Arab. 



200 TRAVELS IN FRANCE 

This neighborhood, moreover, long after the Romans had 
withdrawn from Britain, and indeed long after their empire 
had totally disappeared from the world, had associated with 
it the presence of the Welsh princes. These had their seat 
near by, on that island already so often mentioned. Thence, 
through many generations, did they defy the power of the 
Anglo-Saxon, and of his conqueror, the jSTorman. But com- 
parative paucity of numbers, conjoined with an imperfect 
civilization, at length brought the unequal though bravely 
maintained struggle to a close. Lewellyn ap Griffith, the 
last of the Welsh princes, sued for peace from Edward I., 
and peace was granted on the condition that the Welsh 
prince should go to London every Christmas to do homage 
for his principality. Having gone thither at tlie Christmas 
of 12t7, he and his retinue were quartered at Islington and 
in the neighboring villages, and, on account of affronts re- 
ceived, partly in these places and partly in London, he and 
they resolved, while there, that the visit they were then 
making would be their last to the English capital. The 
nature of these insults gives us a curious insight of the habits 
and opinions of the Welsh aristocracy of those days. The 
Welsh prince and his followers complained that they were 
compelled to drink beer instead of milk, to which latter they 
were used, and that the Londoners took the liberty of in- 
dulging in an offensive way in laughter at their peculiar garb 
and strange manners. These things were more than their 
proud and impatient tempers could bear, and the result was 
that, as soon as they again reached the mountains of Wales, 
they recommenced hostilities. At length, in 1285, the brave 
Lewellyn fell in battle ; and besides, his brother, who was 
made a prisoner, was executed. And henceforward, with 
the exception of some brief flashes of patriotic spirit, the. 
nationality of the last remnant of the ancient Britons, in 
South Britain, became scarcely anything more than a shadow. 
I may add, though I have not visited it, that Beaumaris, 
the shire town of Anglesea, — for the Island of Anglesea is 
a county, — lies only a little more than three miles to the 
north of this town, on the other shore of the Menai Strait. 
I subscribe myself yours, &c,, M. F. 

P. S. — A small matter of quite an unpleasant character, 
has occurred to me at the railroad station here : I allude to 



AND THE BRITISH ISLANDS. 201 

a railroad clerk telegraphing from. London that I had not 
paid for my trunks according to their full weight, and this 
though at the depot in London change had been returned 
me. Of course, though I felt indignant, I paid the demand, 
yet without feeling sure that it was entirely right. In con- 
trast with this I would mention that I have spent my even- 
ings here quite pleasantly. On the evening before last, — 
that of the day on which I reached this place, — I spent some 
time in company with an exceedingly agreeable and intelli- 
gent man very familiar with the proceedings of Parliament, 
and quite a military man in his appearance and carriage, 
and also very conversant, as I learned from my talk with 
him, with military matters. From the views he expressed, 
I would infer that Kussia has not a few sympathizers among 
the British aristocracy. Cheap newspapers ; fire-arms ; the 
writing of Latin poetry; education in the University of Cam- 
bridge ; a Hungarian speech, in which a diversity in the cha- 
racter, and dimensions, of the arms of the various corps em- 
ployed against Hungary, is spoken of; the French emperor; 
and the oratory of Congress and of Parliament, compared ; 
with some allusions to an assault on Sebastopol, anticipated 
as near at hand, — were among the matters discussed. 



NO. XXIL 



Journoy to Dublin— Sea-sickness— Kingston— In Dnblin— Hotel in Westlancl Eow— 
Going to Church— Description of City — History — Phenix Park — Vice-regal Lodge — 
Deer — Law Courts — University, &c. 

Dublin, June, 1855. 

You will perceive, on looking at the heading of this letter, 
that I am now in the ancient capital of Ireland. I arrived 
in this country on last Saturday night, and came up to this 
city on the next morning. 

The first place at which the train stopped after leaving 
Bangor was Holyhead, which town is twenty-three miles 
west of Bangor. Of this distance about seventeen or eighteen 
miles are through the middle of the southern part of the 
Island of Anglesea, the remainder of the distance beino- 



202 TRAVELS IN FRANCE 

either in the County of Carnarvon or in the Island of Holy- 
head. Of Anglesea I spoke in the letter that I last ad- 
dressed you, and to what I then said I will not now add 
anything. Nor of the island and town of Holyhead will I 
stop to say much. Of the island I will only say that it is 
about five miles in length and of from three-quarters of a 
mile to about two miles in width, being connected by a long 
causeway with the western coast of the adjacent Island of 
Anglesea, and that it is mostly quite barren. Of the town 
I will only say that it contains between five and six thousand 
persons, and has altogether a respectable appearance. It is 
said to have been the site of an ancient Roman fortification, 
a part of the wall of which is still standing, and enters into 
the wall of the churchyard. But we were permitted to stop 
only a few minutes in Holyhead, when we had to go aboard 
the packet for Kingston, the length of the sea-voyage be- 
tween these two places being fifty-five miles. Our voyage 
across this distance of water was not altogether unpleasant, 
though the sea, on account of a considerable wind, was 
rough. Indeed, during most of the time of passing over I 
was very sea-sick. 

As to Kingston, I remark that it lies on the south side of 
Dublin Bay, about two and a half miles within its mouth, 
and about seven miles from the City of Dublin. It is finely 
situated, is the mail-packet station for communication from 
Holyhead and also from Dublin to Liverpool, is well built, 
and contains a population exceeding ten thousand. Just 
across the bay from it is that bold and picturesque object, 
the Hill of Howth. The pier is well worth attention, being 
an immense work of granite, and built at an expense of no 
less than £750,000 sterling. It encloses a harbor, I learned, 
of two hundred and fifty acres. At its head is a lighthouse. 
But I had scarcely a bird's-eye view of the town, as, having 
arrived in it during the night, I started early next day, by 
railroad, for the city. Indeed I now regret that I did not 
stay longer than I did, as the place is worthy of more atten- 
tion than that slight attention which I bestowed on it, and 
it is not convenient for me to go back. But I wished to be 
in Dablin for church, and, besides, Sunday ought not to be 
spent in sight-seeing. Between Kingston and Dublin the 
country is in a high state of cultivation, and the residences 
are noble. 



AND THE BRITISH ISLANDS. 203 

Of course the first inquiry of a stranger, on reaching a 
city in which he is unacquainted, is for a suitable hotel. I 
was immediately taken to one, at my request, situated in the 
same street with, and at no great distance from, the station 
of the Kingston and Dublin Railroad. I will describe it to 
you. The house is a brick, slated, middle-sized house of 
three stories, standing in a clean, neat, very quiet street, 
(Westland Row,) into which a gateway opens from the play- 
grounds of the IJniversity. Everything is very plain, clean, 
neat, and comfortable. There are only two objections : one 
is, there are too many servants about the establishment; and 
the charges, for the accommodations afforded, are too high. 
I must say that a more pleasant inn of the retired character 
I have never been in. 

After a while, the hour for worship approaching, I in- 
quired after the localities of the various churches I wished 
to attend. Being shown the way to Mr. Dill's church on 
Ormond Quay, I started for it a little before 10 o'clock. On 
reaching it, however, I found I was an hour too early, a 
thing indeed that I anticipated, having mainly gone to it 
thus early with the view of acquainting myself thoroughly 
with the direction to it. In this state of matters I walked 
over the bridge hard by, where, falling in with a respectable- 
looking young man, I put an inquiry to him as to the Dub- 
lin churches. He told me, after a little, that he was a Sun- 
day school teacher in Christ Church, to which church he 
was just going. Accordingly I went thither, spending three 
quarters of an hour in looking through it, and then returning 
to Ormond Quay. In the afternoon I worshiped in the 
St. Mary's Abbey Presbyterian Church ; and in the evening 
I attended religious services in St. Patrick's Cathedral. 
But, as I intend to go around again to-morrow both to 
Christ's Church and St. Patrick's, I will not, till after having 
done so, say anything more of the churches of this city or 
the services in them. With respect to myself, I will say, 
that I have seldom spent the day sacred to praise and prayer, 
more pleasantly than I did this one in Dublin. 

On the next day I first strolled for a while through the 
streets of the city, and then directed my steps to the Phenix 
Park; the Pour Courts lying on the way back from this 
park to ray hotel. To the impressions which these various 
objects made on me I will therefore ask your attention. Bat 



204 TRAVELS IN FRANCE 

before I say anything of particular objects of interest, I will 
first make some general remarks as to the city. 

Dublin lies on both banks of the Liffey — which is a small 
but beautiful river rising in the mountains of Wicklow, and 
which, after a circuitous course of fifty miles, falls into Dub- 
lin Bay a mile or so below the city's eastern verge. This 
stream, which is enclosed by granite quays for the distance 
of two and a half miles, divides the town into two parts, 
these parts being joined by seven stone and two iron bridges. 
Of these bridges Carlisle Bridge, the largest and handsomest 
of the stone bridges, consists of three arches of moderate 
width, and that one of the metal bridges, which I was in the 
habit of passing, of one arch. The views from Carlisle 
Bridge, up and down the Liffey, and along several noble 
streets, are unsurpassed in any other city in the world. On 
the whole, I would remark that Dublin is well built, indeed 
it is better built than London, considering their relative 
sizes. St. Stephen's Green and Merrion Square are certainly 
admirable, and Sackville Street, (two hundred feet in width,) 
if properly planted with ornamental shade trees, would equal 
the noblest avenue in any part of the world. Yet, after all, 
this capital is not what it once was ; what it was before the 
union of the Irish Parliament with that of Britain. Once, 
more than two hundred and fifty peers made it their resi- 
dence, and nearly three hundred commoners, almost all of 
these lords and commoners having been men of finished edu- 
cation, of taste, and of fortune ; while at present not more 
than half a dozen lords, and about twenty commoners, make 
it their place of abode. However, to compensate in some 
degree for this loss, it is now the great railroad centre for 
Ireland; railroads of the best construction, connecting it 
with, and giving it part of the trade of, all parts of the 
island, — the midland counties, the southern, the western, and 
the northern. It has also long had two noble canals con- 
necting it with the interior and western portion of the 
country. Besides, I v/ould remark, as to the architecture of 
the city, (in addition to what I said above,) that while the 
eastern parts are well built, the old parts are built but in- 
differently, though even these are, I think, so far as I have 
passed through them, not at all inferior to the old districts 
of Paris and Boulogne. The present population of the city 
and suburbs is reckoned to bo about two hundred and eighty 
thousand souls. 



AND THE BRITISH ISLANDS. . 205 

Dublin is very ancient, having existed in the time of the 
geographer Ptolemy, who gives it the name of Eblana ; 
though it is likely that then it was merely an assemblage 
of wooden shanties, except that (since Tacitus tells us that 
in his day the waters and harbors of Ireland were the re- 
sort of commerce and navigation,) some Roman or conti- 
nental traders may have erected in it some substantial 
dwellings and storehouses. Such was Dublin about the 
middle of the second century of the Christian era, for it was 
at that time that Ptolemy flourished; Tacitus having 
flourished some time before him. We know of it little or 
nothing from the days of Ptolemy till a.d. 838, when a 
tribe of Norsemen seized it. From this tribe it was taken 
about a.d. 853, by Amlaf, of the royal blood of Norway, at 
the head of an army composed of Norsemen of tribes dif- 
ferent from that which had held it ; and by Amlaf it was 
greatly ifhproved and enlarged. About a.d. 948, its citizens 
were brought to profess Christianity. In a.d. IHO, by an 
unexpected assault, it was gotten possession of by the Anglo- 
Norman invaders of Ireland, (with whom, on account of the 
ties of race, and of affinities growing out of religion, many 
of the citizens sympathized ;) and in the next year, in the fall 
of the year, it was occupied by the English king, Henry II., 
himself at the head of a strong force. At this time it is de- 
scribed by an English writer as the chief city of all Ireland, 
and as being, by its very celebrated port, the rival even of 
London. Of the history of Dublin from this time, — since it 
is so well known, — I will not stop to write to you anything. 

As I have already told you, the first place, yesterday, as 
it happened, to which, after having walked around the quays 
and leading streets, I went, was the Phenix Park. This 
noble park lies up the Liffey on its north bank, and is just 
on the edge of the city. It is no less, persons say, than 
seven miles around, and, though carelessly kept, is greatly 
superior to anything of the sort in connection with any of 
the great cities of the United States, or even in the imme- 
diate vicinities of London or Paris. Through it runs a 
road, but without hedge or fence on either side of it. Off 
to the one side of the park is the Yice-regal Lodge, standing 
in very handsome grounds which are separated from the 
part open to the public by a quickset hedge. This lodge is 
a beautiful building, very simple in its style of architecture. 

IT 



206 • TRAVELS IN FRANCE 

Its main front is only two stories in height, and wings of 
only one story extend a considerable way in a straight line 
from the two-storied part of the edifice. While wandering 
about in front of this building, and elsewhere in the park, I 
could not help admiring the fine prospect before the be- 
holder, — taking in the city, the bay, and the Hill of Howth, 
and also vast, fertile plains, and, southward, extending as 
far as the Wicklow Mountains," boldly swelling in the dis- 
tance, and verdant to the top. Also I could not help giving 
admiring attention to the skillful horsemanship of a number 
of ladies who were amusing themselves, cantering about on 
fine horses over the road and greensward. But what a con- 
trast between the turn-outs of carriages in Hyde Park and 
in the Phenix ! There seemed the distance of infinity be- 
tween the two displays. As I passed along through the 
groves, — and I would remark that the trees in these are 
mostly small, compared with those that I have looked upon 
in American forests, — I came upon a little flock of five beau- 
tiful deer. The sight reminded me of what I have seen in 
former times in the woods and wilds of Arkansas. In this 
park the Dublin Zoological Society has gardens. Also in 
it there has been reared a grand monument to the late Duke 
of Wellington, a heavy obelisk of two hundred and ten feet 
in height, and constructed at the cost of £20,000 sterUng. 

I have also been in the Law Courts, a soiled old building 
on the north bank of the Liffey, toward the western edge of 
the city. This edifice, — which is four hundred and fifty feet 
in length, and crowned by a dome, — is substantial, though, by 
no means, and in no respect, of a superior appearance or finish. 
In it the Irish lord chancellor, chief justice, and other officers 
of the law, hold their courts, and thus is it the grand resort 
at court times of the Irish bar. I thought the court rooms 
very poor in their accommodations and appearance, — I mean 
for the capital of Ireland. To the pleadings and mode of 
conducting business I have paid considerable attention. 
While undoubtedly the Irish bar will compare very favor- 
ably with the American, or indeed with any other, the Irish 
lawyer being always not merely conversant with the business 
of his profession but also otherwise liberally educated, yet 
the speaking that I heard was not of an excellence superior 
to what is constantly listened to in the more respectable of 
the county courts of the United States. The lawyers' 



AND THE BRITISH ISLANDS. 201 

speeches, however, are a great deal more condensed and 
shorter than is the case in America, and they get through 
with business faster, I cannot leave the Four Courts with- 
out observing that it was in them that such men as Curran, 
O'Connell, Shiel, and others like them, made their grand 
forensic efforts. 

I will conclude this letter by saying that, in addition to 
the places that I have spoken of, I have been somewhat 
about the University, and have frequently strolled through 
its grounds. The chief edifice belonging to this celebrated 
institution of learning stands on the eastern side of that area 
now paved, called College Green, being on the other side of 
the Green from that other fine edifice, the old Parliament 
House, now the Bank of Ireland. Its grand front is built 
of Portland stone, and is of -the Corinthian order ; and the 
building itself extends, in depth, six hundred feet. This is 
the building which is named, if I mistake not, Trinity Col- 
lege. It, however, is not the only edifice belonging to the 
University. Other buildings, quite spacious, are also occu- 
pied by it. Behind the buildings spoken of is the College 
Park, a green area of twenty-five acres, laid out in walks, 
and planted with a number of trees. In it, at all times at 
which I was there, the young men of the University had a 
large tent pitched, around which, for exercise and health, 
they were busily engaged in playing several athletic games. 
Dulolin University, or the College of the Holy and Undi- 
vided Trinity, (the latter the name given to it in the royal 
letters-patent chartering it,) is one of the best institutions 
of learning in the world. It possesses an excellent museum, 
a well-selected library of one hundred and fifty thousand vol- 
umes, has always had able professors, (among them, in re- 
mote days, Usher and Bedell,) has an attendance of two 
thousand students, and has a la^nded revenue of £15,000 per 
year. Among its present fellows, I was surprised, or per- 
haps I ought to say I was not surprised, to find one of the 
old acquaintances of my boyish days, Mr. * * * *^ one 
of the best mathematicians and classical scholars in Europe. 
The ground on which this institution stands, with the 
grounds immediately around it, has considerable historical 
celebrity. Here, in, or sliortly before, 1166, Dermod Mc- 
Morrogh, the profligate King of Leinster, (who shortly 
afterwards introduced the Anglo-Normans into Ireland,) 



208 TRAVELS IN FRANCE 

founded, no doubt partly with a view of compounding with 
Heaven for his wicked life, a priory named the Priory of 
All Hallows, or All Saints. Here resided the English King, 
Henry II., utider whom Ireland was conquered, during most 
of the time of his abode in Dublin, which was from Novem- 
ber 11, lltl, to March 1, 1112, he having had constructed 
for himself on this spot, after the fashion of the Irish chiefs 
of those days, a palace of wicker-work ; and in it he enter- 
tained, at the season of Christmas, with unusual festivities 
and splendor, his own nobles, conjointly with such of the 
great men of his recently acquired dominion, as could be 
reached by his invitation. Here, about 1326 or 1327, Adam 
Duff, (a gentleman, as the old writers call him, of the family 
of the O'Tooles,) was hanged, and burned, as a heretic, under 
the charges of being possessed of an evil spirit, and of deny- 
ing the incarnation, the resurrection of the flesh, and other 
Christian truths. Here, in 1539, as part and parcel of the 
bold and sweeping project for the overturning of monastic 
establishments, were experienced the effects of governmental 
interference in the suppression of the Priory of All Hallows, 
whose edifice, with its appurtenances, was bestowed on the 
corporation of Dublin. And here, in March, 1592, was the 
first stone of the present University buildings Jaid, the mayor, 
aldermen, and commons, of the city, having granted the old 
decayed monastery and its surrounding grounds for the site 
of the new University about being founded. And the work 
of building, which was quickly commenced, was so far brought 
toward completion by January, 1592—3, that, at that time, 
the institution was opened, and her first student admitted. 
Such are the historical associations connected with long by- 
gone generations, that, to the person who has carefully read 
Irish history, conglomerate around the plot of ground on 
which stands what was, for a long period, Ireland's only 
University. I remain yours, &c,, M. P. 



AND THE BRITISH ISLANDS. 209 



NO. XXIII. 

Christ Church — St. Patrick's — Presbyterian Churches — Glassnevin — C'Connell — Cur- 
• ran — Circular Eoad — Clontarf — Extract from Gray. 

Dublin, June, 1855. 

I AM this evening to leave this city for Belfast, and before 
taking leave of it, I will ask you to go around with me to 
some of the places of most interest, that while here I have 
gone to, and of which I have as yet spoken either imperfectly 
or not at all, I am sorry that I cannot stay in this place till 
the week after next, when in it, the General Assembly of 
the Presbyterian Church in Ireland is to come together, (on 
the 3d of July,) as I would like very well to be present at 
the meeting for a short while ; but I find that to enjoy this 
privilege I must submit to a detention inconveniently long. 
Before taking my departure, however, as I have just told 
you that I am about to do, I take time, though I must do 
the thing hurriedly, to make out from my notes in fulfillment 
of a plan which I have laid down for myself, an account of 
several places which I view as worthy of special notice, that, 
in addition to those mentioned in my letter of the 19th inst., 
I have visited, and that I have not yet described to you. 

First, let me invite you to accompany me to the Castle. 
This edifice is not to be confounded with the Yice-regal Lodge 
in the Phenix Park, a mistake into which those who have 
no knowledge of the city often fall. It stands to the south 
of the river, and is immediately behind that beautiful modern 
structure, the Exchange. Going past the Exchange, and up 
a moderate elevation, I reached a wide gateway within which 
paced slowly, up and down, a sentinel. Passing him, I found 
myself in an extensive court, and, all around me, a very old 
and, I may say, crumbling edifice. Hoariness was marked 
on everything except the Yice-regal Chapel, which was rebuilt 
only about forty years ago, and which is regarded as an ex- 
quisite specimen of Gothic architecture. In addition to this 
chapel, the Castle contains the state apartments of the Yice- 
roy, together with an arsenal and armory. On the side of 
the edifice away from the Exchange, that is, facing the ge- 
nial south, is the Castle garden. Dublin Castle was once a 

It* 



210 TRAVELS IN FRANCE 

place of great strength, but now a dozen large cannon-balls, — 
indeed, one of the balls of 130 pounds, that I have seen in 
the Philadelphia Navy Yard, and much more, the 212 poimd 
balls of the Oregon and Peace-maker, — would send its old 
walls shivering into a thousand fragments. Its ai«chitecture, 
which to me seemed by no means particularly grand, is of 
different ages. We learn that in 1213, in the reign of John, 
it was completed, (according to the notions of the men of 
that age as to completeness,) and flanked with towers. 
However, since, no doubt, it has been greatly altered and 
enlarged. In the course of the events recorded in Irish 
history, the possession of this edifice has frequently been dis- 
puted by rival parties, as of great moment. Thus, in 1534, 
when Lord Thomas Fitzgerald, Yice-deputy of the Island, 
commenced hostilities against the royal government, he be- 
gan his hostilities by vain attacks on the Castle of Dublin. 
Again, in 1641, when the Catholic leaders conspired to wage 
that long semi-political, semi-religious civil war, by which, 
but with several variations of phases and of parties, Ireland, 
for upwards often years, was wasted, their darling initiatory 
project was to seize, — if this part of their scheme had not 
been discovered, — this now crumbling edifice with its armory 
and arms. Also, in 1660, when the Commonwealth was 
about passing into dissolution, and when all men were hurry- 
ing to transfer their allegiance to Charlas II., it was occu- 
pied by Sir Hardress Waller, one of the late king's judges, 
who, during several days resisted in it a fierce siege. And 
again, when, in lt96-'7-8, the United Irishmen combined, 
in vast force, to bring about a revolution, each one of their 
various plans contemplated the seizure of this old stronghold. 
Having inspected the Castle, I will next ask you to go 
along Dame Street with me to the old Parliament-house, now 
the Bank of Ireland; a strange conversion, in my opinion, — 
for surely the edifice in which the Senate of a nation once 
met ought to be consecrated rather to Minerva than to Mam- 
mon. This noble building stands on College Green, quite 
close to the University, and is remarkable for the chasteness 
of its architecture, for its general beauty and finish, and for 
its magnificent colonnaded front, claiming the admiration of 
all beholders capable of appreciating it. The recollections 
connected with this structure are of the most elevated charac- 
ter. In it sat Lord Charlemont and Lord Edward Fitz- 



AND THE BRITISH ISLANDS. 211 

gerald, and in it was displayed the lofty and convincing elo- 
quence of Flood, Curran, and Grattan. 

Again, let me lead you around 'the various cliurches in 
Dublin, in which I have been while here. 

But, before doing this, let me say a word of the various 
denominations in this city. I need scarcely remark that the 
Roman Catholic denomination greatly outnumbers, in nomi- 
nal membership, every other, having nine or ten churches, 
seven friaries, three monasteries, and eight convents. Next 
comes the Protestant Episcopal Church, the law- established 
denomination, (and the one possessing most of the wealth of 
the city,)'which in church edifices exceeds, four or five times 
over, the Catholic. Next, is the Methodist Church, with 
nine places of worship. As to the Presbyterians, I remark 
that, so far as I could Ascertain, they have five places of 
worship, though none of them large. Then follows the 
Congregational denomination. Then the Unitarian, which 
has four places of worship in various parts of the city. Then 
does the Baptist denomination come after. ¥/hile the Jews, 
who are least numerous of all, have a synagogue. 

The first church to j\^hich (on Sabbath the Itth inst.) I 
went, in Dublin, as I believe I mentioned to you in my last 
letter, is that on Ormond Quay. This is a new Presbyterian 
place of worship, substantially built, but very plain and not 
large. The congregation was composed of persons of the 
middle class of society. The minister, Mr. Dill, is certainly 
a man of very superior talents for public speaking, fliough 
deficient in action, and, I fear, not always industrious in his 
pulpit preparations. 

In the afternoon of the same day I attended divine ser- 
vices in the St. Mary's Abbey Church, also a Presbyterian 
place of worship. The congregation was rather thin, and 
the preaching somewhat dry, though manifesting consider- 
able intellect. The preacher had a very strongly marked 
Scottish accent. The house, though capacious and com- 
fortable, is a very ordinary building. Near the site of this 
church stood, before the Beformation, a famous abbey, the 
Abbey of St. Mary. 

Also, on the same day, I attended worship in the evening, 
in St. Patrick's Cathedral, belonging to the Establishment. 
This edifice, which was built (by Archbishop Cumin) as 
early as 1190, and which therefore has a very ancient aspect, 



212 TRAVELS IN FRANCE 

is situated in the southwest quarter of the city, in quite a 
low position, and amid very old streets. It is surmounted 
by a very lofty spire erected in 1150. In it lies the dust of 
several persons of great distinction in their day. Among 
these the most celebrated is Dean Swift. Here also is the 
grave of Stella, whom Swift's writings have made known to 
all who read the English tongue. The interior of the build- 
ing is divided into two main parts, the one a place of sepul- 
ture and promenade, and the other the place where the ser- 
vices of religion are performed. I heard, in this place of 
worship, a short sermon, which, though not delivered at a 
funeral, was intended for a funeral sermon. It was plain and 
sensible, and was well read, but did not support the reputa- 
tion that Irishmen have for eloquence. The accompanying 
services, however, were very grand, being performed by a 
vast and ^ell-trained choir occupying a part of the church 
overhung with antique swords and helmets in great numbers. 
So great is the attraction of this department of the worship, 
that it never fails to bring together a numerous assemblage. 
We are told that the poetess Mrs. Hemans had for it a most 
enthusiastic admiration, and that, during her abode in Dub- 
lin, she was, on the Sabbath evenings, almost invariably pre- 
sent ; listening, time and again, in seemingly rapt enjoyment, . 
while 

* * * * a All tlie clioir 

Sang hallelujah, as the sound of seas." 

" Indeed, the choral music in this cathedral," I copy the lan- 
guage of another in relation to it, "is almost unrivaled in its 
combined power of voice, organ, and scientific skill. The 
majestic harmony of effect, thus produced, is not a little deep- 
ened by the character of the church itself, which, though 
small, yet with its dark rich fretwork, knightly helmets and 
banners, and old monumental effigies, seems all filled and 
overshadowed by the spirit of chivalrous antiquity. The 
imagination never fails to recognize it as a fitting scene for 
high solemnities of old, a place to witness the solitary vigils 
of arms, or to resound with the funeral march of some war- 
like king." Yet, a portion of the population of this city, as 
I myself have heard, with a strange perversion of taste, speak 
of the music of St, Patrick's as Paddy's opera. 

In addition to the three places of worship that I have 



AND THE BRITISH ISLANDS. 213 

jast spoken of, I have also, while here, visited Christ Church 
in Dame Street, though I have not attended religious ser- 
vices in it. It is the oldest place of worship now in exist- 
ence in Dublin, having been founded about twenty-six years 
after the battle of Clontarf, and about one hundred and 
thirty years before the foot of the Anglo-Norman had 
touched Irish soil. The interior, like that of St. Patrick's, 
is divided into two chief divisions, one mainly for the dead 
and their monuments, and the other mainly for the perform- 
ance of the services of religion. One monument that de- 
serves the notice of the visitor is the one supposed, no doubt 
correctly, to be that of Earl Strongbow, the conqueror of 
Ireland, who was here interred, at his death, in 1176 ; near 
to which a more recent stone tablet in the wall is inscribed 
with his name. There is also another monument so unique 
in its character that it cannot fail to draw attention : this 
is a statue continued only to the middle, with the bowels 
open and held up by the hands. This monument commemo- 
rates a son of Strongbow, — whether legitimate or illegiti- 
mate, I cannot tell, — who, according to an ancient tradition, 
was cruelly cut in twain by his ferocious father by a blow of 
his sword, for yielding to boyish fear and fleeing from bat- 
tle. Besides, there is a monument to an old warrior, very 
deserving of inspection, having a fine likeness, in stone, 
stretched on the tomb ; its legs being crossed in token, I 
presume, of the person represented having been a crusader. 
But the monuments of the dead of past ages are not the only 
things that drew my regards in the outer division of this 
ancient temple of worship. Walking up to two statues in 
the wall, side by side, cut out of large blocks of stone, and 
yet not detached from the wall, I could not but gaze upon 
them with much intentness. While thus employed, a man 
belonging to the city came up to me, and, looking along 
with me on the chiseled masses, entered, though with a 
modest reserve, into conversation. The statues are sorely 
bruised and beaten, this having been pr(^ab]y done at the 
time, during the Protestant Reformation in Ireland, when 
images were about being removed from the edifice; and 
these being incapable of being carried off were smashed and 
mutilated by the persons employed in the work of purga- 
tion, that they might not leave them without some manifes- 
tation, at least, of dislike. I inquired of the person stand- 



214 TRAVELS IN FRANCE 

ing beside me as to those whom the battered yet venerable 
sculptures represented. ''This one," pointing to one of the 
bruised images, said he, in mournful accents, " is St. Pat- 
rick." The feet of the good Patricius had been smashed off 
at the hollow of the foot, and the zealous missionary had 
been stricken on the face till cheek-bones and nose were 
beaten in. Nor had his silent, rigid companion by his side 
fared, at the hands of the austere iconoclasts, by a whit bet- 
ter. I cannot go away from this old cathedral without men- 
tioning a few facts belonging to its long history. It was 
founded, as we learn from ancient annals, about the year of 
our Lord 1040, by Donatus, the first Bishop of Dublin; this 
being not far from one hundred years after the conversion of 
the Dubliuers (who were either Norsemen or of Norseman 
extraction) to Christianity. Further, we learn that, in 
founding it, Donatus acted under the patronage of Sitric, 
the Danish prince who then reigned in this metropolis; 
Sitric generously donating ground for the site, furnishing 
money for building, and bestowing funds for an endowment 
and permanent support. A little more than one hundred 
and thirty years after this, in 1176, the fierce soldier who 
had conquered Ireland, Earl Strongbow, was borne by his 
mailed warriors, with funeral march, through its portals, and 
laid beneath its floor, to be trod over by even the lowliest. 
Ten years after, in 1186, a provincial synod was held in it, 
remarkable for the acerbity, during its sittings, with which 
the English and Irish clergy berated each other; the Irish 
upbraiding their English brethren more particularly with the 
maintaining of wives and concubines. In it, just three hun- 
dred years subsequent, in 1486, was the arch-imposter, Lam- 
bert Simnel, crowned king. Subsequent to this time, — and, I 
presume, before it, as we learn, — it was the place of assem- 
bling not only of councils but also of parliaments, and the 
common resort, in term-time, for definitions of matters by 
judges and learned men. Coming down to 1539, we find 
that, at that tim§, from being a House of Canons, it was 
changed (Henry YIIL filling the throne) into a Semi- 
Protestant Dean and Chapter. Twelve years after this, — 
in 1551, — (Edvrard YI. occupying the throne,) the whole 
of the religious services performed in it came to be main- 
tained in the language of the worshiping people ; the liturgy 
in English being then introduced. Next, only about three 



AND THE BRITISH ISLANDS. 215 

years after this, in consequence of the accession of Queen 
Mary, the old forms of religion were restored. And again, 
about five years subsequent, in 1559, under Elizabeth, the 
reformed forms of divine service were, a second time, set up. 
On this occasion, an attempt was made by one of the Recu- 
sant party. Father Leigh, to impose on the public credulity 
by a false miracle. A sponge soaked in blood was placed 
in the hollow of the head of a marble image representing 
the Saviour standing with a reed in his hands and a crown 
of thorns on his head ; and, as the blood trickled down, an 
outcry that the Saviour sweated blood, was raised from a 
considerable portion of a vast crowd of worshipers. But 
the cheat was quickly detected, as its weak author might 
have expected, and the bloody sponge publicly exhibited. 
I will only add that, of the transactions connected with the 
history of this edifice, from the second introduction of Pro- 
testant worship down to the present day, I will refer but 
to one single event: I speak of the placing, in the next 
year, 1560, of a large Bible in the middle of the choir, (as 
was also done in St. Patrick's,) for the use of the public, in 
consequence of which the old building became, for a con- 
siderable time, a place of great concourse on the part of the 
citizens. 

I will conclude this letter with some observations in rela- 
tion* to two places in the neighborhood of this metropolis, 
that to me have had considerable interest, — the villages of 
Glassnevin and Clontarf 

First, permit me to give you a brief account of my excur- 
sion to Glassnevin. This is quite a small village, lying about 
three and a half miles to the N.N.W. of the city, in which 
are situated the chief burying-ground belonging to Dublin, 
and also the botanic garden of the Dublin Boyal Society. 
Hiring a jaunting-car, I was soon carried beyond the verge 
of brick houses and of streets, and put down at the gate of 
the field of the dead, for which I was seeking. Entering 
the gate, I walked up a graveled alley leading to a neat 
Koman Catholic chapel. Further on, I found the grave of 
all that is mortal of that once most active and bustling of 
all the men of his generation, the eloquent barrister and 
commoner, Daniel O'Connell. I then walked to another 
part of the graveyard where a vault is about being prepared 
for him by his enthusiastic admirers, and where a monument 



216 TRAVELS IN FRANCE 

is about being raised to his memory, which is intended to 
outvie, in height and grandeur, that erected in Sackville 
Street (though it is above one hundred and thirty feet 
high) to Lord Nelson. In another part of the same sepul- 
chral area lies the body of John Philpot Curran, that most 
eloquent advocate of persecuted patriotism, in a dark and 
disastrous period of Irish history. Glassnevin burying- 
ground contains forty-two acres, and is handsomely en- 
closed, ornamented, and divided off by graveled walks. 
For quiet beauty, no place of the sort can surpass it. Its 
vaults and burying-plots are mostly owned by Catholics, 
though many Protestants also have preferred here to take 
their last, long rest. At length, wearied in traveling among 
the groves of little crosses, (crosses being raised by Catho- 
lics over their deceased friends,) I passed to the neighbor- 
ing botanical garden. I have seen several botanical gar- 
dens, and this is certainly one of the finest and best kept to 
be met with anywhere. Its collection of rare and useful 
plants is large, its avenues are beautiful and carefully at- 
tended to, and its hot-houses are admirably adapted to their 
purpose. It stands on the parcel of ground that was for- 
merly occupied by the poet Thomas Tickell, one of the best 
of the minor poets, and the confidential friend of Addison ; 
a circumstance that of itself attaches interest to the spot. 
Having gratified my curiosity, I returned to my jaunting- 
car, and, driving to the circular road, — a road of nine miles 
in length, which goes around a good part of the city, — 
made my entry by a different route from that by which I had 
made my exit. 

Next, let me tell you of another place in the neighbor- 
hood of this capital that I have taken a deep interest in: I 
speak of the far-famed village of Clontarf. This village, 
which contains a population of seven hundred souls, lies on 
the north side of Dublin Bay, and at the distance of three 
miles E.N.E. of the city. It contains several good resi- 
dences, though many of the dwellings are but of an indiffer- 
ent character. It has also, connected with it, a castle, — 
Clontarf Castle, — well worthy of being mentioned. But 
what attaches to it its chief interest is that the plain in its 
vicinity was the scene, nearly eight centuries and a half ago, 
of the great and decisive battle of Clontarf This engage- 
ment, the greatest in the history of Celtic Ireland, was fought 



AND THE BRITISH ISLANDS. 217 

on April 23, 1014 : in it, the Norsemen, (from the shores of 
the Baltic, from most of the Danish settlements in Ireland, 
and from the Scottish Isles,) aided by the Irish of Leinster 
and by reinforcements of Britons from Cornwall and Wales, 
being marshaled on one side ; and the Irish of Munster, and 
partially also of Connaught and Ulster, with a small body 
of friendly Norsemen, all under the aged Brian Borooh, be- 
ing ranged on the other side. In this conflict, which lasted 
from early in the morning till after dark, more than six 
thousand of the Norsemen and their allies fell, and thence- 
forth, though still permitted to dwell in the country in large 
numbers, these haughty invaders had to concede the main 
political control, in all matters of national concern, to the 
Irish themselves. 

It was this battle which formed the foundation of Gray's 
truly poetical ode of "The Fatal Sisters," a translation of a 
song in the Norse tongue, written about 1029 ; which Norse 
soug was reputed to have been sung, near Caithness, in Scot- 
land, during the progress of the fight, (in the hearing of one 
who memorized it,) by those Gothic goddesses called the 
Choosers of the Slain, while, amid wild rocks in that region, 
weaving their web on their loom of death. I will close this 
letter by extracting three or four stanzas from this poem. 
As the huge, grim beings worked at their loom, the bard 
tells us that thus they sang : 

"See the grisly texture grow ! 

('Tis of human entrails made!) 

And the weights, that play below, 

Each a gasping warrior's head. 

"Shafts, (for shuttles,) dipt in gore, 
Shoot the trembling cords along ; 
Sword, that once a monarch bore, 
Keep the tissue close and strong. 

"Weave the crimson web of war: — 
Let us go, and let us tiy, 
Whei'e our friends the conflict share, 
• Where they triumph, where they die. 

"Long, Brian's loss shall Erin weep, 
IS e'er again his likeness see; 
Long her strains in sorrow steep, — 
Strains of immortality !" 

I remain yours, &c., M. F. 
18 



218 TRAVELS IN FRANCE 



NO. XXI Y. 

Joiiruey to Boilfast — Mud-houses — Drogheda — Dundalk — Belfast — Prosperity — 
Queen's College — Dr. Cooke — Dr. Montgomery — ^Dr. McCosh. 

Belfast, June, 1855. 

I ARRIVED on Saturday evening in this borough, the me- 
tropolis of the North of Ireland, a place with which I was 
once very familiar, having been, in my youthful days, a ma- 
triculate in the college department of the now •xtinct Royal 
Belfast Academical Institution, — where I attended from the 
beginning of November, 1828, to the conclusion of the ex- 
aminations at the close of April, or beginning of May, 1831. 
Thus now do I find myself amid old and well-remembered 
scenes. But how changed are all things ! In the town I 
have/ownc^ only three persons remaining that I then knew. 
Some have died, some have removed far hence, and a few, 
in other places of the British Islands, have risen to distinc- 
tion in the various learned professions. Even the place of 
learning itself, in which I was partially educated, has given 
place to another, Queen's College, raised under a more mu- 
nificent parliamentary patronage, and thus better endowed, 
though in an educational point of view not a whit superior to 
the extinct Dissenting institution. Then, how changed the 
town ! What in my juvenile years had b . n green fields, and 
around which, when grain was growing in them, I have often 
rambled, is now far within the circle of new brick-houses and 
beautiful streets. And the surrounding country has changed 
almost as much as the town. Even the deer-park in the 
neighborhood of Cavehill hard-by, to which I and several 
companions used occasionally on pleasant Saturdays to walk 
out, has been encroached on till it has nearly ceased to re- 
tain its old character ; while the noble white buck, — white a^ 
the driven snow, — that would often let us come within a few 
yards of him, (the only white animal of the race that I have 
ever seen, though I have seen more, taking in both sides of 
the Atlantic, than any one could readily count,) has disap- 
peared from those old haunts, of which he was once an 
ornament ; having, no doubt, paid the debt of nature. 



AND THE BRITISH ISLANDS. 219 

But yon will expect me to say something of my journey 
from Dublin hither. I left Dublin on the afternoon of the 
21st inst. On my way I stopped at the towns of Drogheda 
and Dundalk. Also I may mention that in journeying I 
passed through parts of the counties of Dublin, Meath, 
Louth, Armagh, Down, and Antrim. The towns that lie 
on the road are, Malahide, (a small but well-built bathing 
village celebrated for its old castle,) Drogheda and Dun- 
dalk, (just mentioned as prices at which I stopped,) Newry, 
(a borough noted for its industry and trade,) Portadown, 
(situated in the midst of a very moral and industrious rural 
population,) and Lurgan and Lisburu, (both fine towns.) 
The country, all the distance, is rich and beautiful, and most 
of it very carefully though not skillfully, with some excep- 
tions, cultivated. Through the first part of the way I ob- 
served that the houses of the country people, poor structures 
to be named farm-houses, are built of mud ; a sort of dwell- 
ing-house that I have also seen in France. Before seeing 
them, I had associated the idea of mud-houses with a poor 
soil. The contrary, however, generally is the fact What 
leads those who build them to erect such habitations, is that the 
rich soil is destitute of stones for building, while the farmers, 
— owing to the monopoly of land by a few, — are either tena.nts 
at will, or on leases, (sometimes, it is true, long leases, and 
occasionally perpetual leases,) and are therefore generally 
unwilling, even when able, to be at the expense of bring- 
ing to their farms the proper materials for rearing good 
dwellings. 

In my journey I stopped, during brief times, as I have 
already said, at two intermediate places, in coming from 
Dublin to this borough, — Drogheda and Dundalk, — as to 
which, though my opportunities of observation were small, 
I will say something. 

With respect to Drogheda, (thirty miles to the north of 
Dublin,) I remark that it is situated in one of the most beau- 
tiful districts of country in the world, and that it lies on both 
sides of the beautiful River Boyne, — which is here crossed by 
a stone bridge of three arches. There is not anything grand 
or sublime, but for calm beauty the country and the river are 
unsurpassed. The town itself, which contains about seven- 
teen thousand inhabitants, has several good and well-built 
streets. It has also considerable shipping, and it has steam- 



220 TRAVELS IN FRANCE 

boat connections with England and Scotland. Besides, — 
another thing worth the notice of the stranger, — some small 
relics of the old wall are to be seen, for anciently it was 
strongly fortified. In addition to what I have said, I would 
call attention to the circumstance that several important 
historical associations are connected with the place. Thus, 
in it, as early as 1464, a parliament, for such part of the 
island as was then shire-ground, was held. Also it has been 
the scene of important military ^transactions, having been 
twice besieged. It was besieged (Sir Henry Tichbourn 
commanding the garrison) by the insurgent Catholics, under 
Sir Phelim O'Neil, at the beginning of the civil wars of 1641; 
the siege lasting during the month of December of this year, 
and during the months of January and February of the suc- 
ceeding year, — near the end of which last-named month the 
Marquis of Ormond compelled them to retire. Again, in 
1649, it was besieged. At this time it was in the hands of 
the United Party, composed of the Protestant Royalists 
under Ormond, and of the Confederate Catholics; its gover- 
nor being a Roman Catholic, Sir Arthur Aston, a man of a 
deservedly high reputation as a soldier. Opposed to him, 
Oliver Cromwell, at the head of a powerful force, sat down 
before its walls on the 2d of September of the year named. 
About eight days after this, its defences having been 
breached, the town was assaulted. After two tremendous 
repulses, the English general himself leading the third 
assault at the head of his reserve, the place was taken. The 
subsequent massacre of the brave garrison has fixed a dark 
stain on his memory. Moreover, close by, not far above the 
town, on the river, was fought, on July 1, 1690, the cele- 
brated battle of the Boyne, the most important engagement 
that has yet occurred on Irish soil. On the one side was 
William III., at the head of thirty-six thousand men, — 
Hollanders, English, Irish Protestants, some Scotch, French 
Huguenots, Danes, and Germans, — with a powerful park of 
artillery; and on the other side, James II., at the head of 
an army of Irish Jacobites, (mostly Catholics,) and of French 
auxiliaries. The superior numbers, artillery, discipline, and 
arms, of William's forces, (these being superior in every- 
thing except cavalry and position,) gave them, after a hard- 
fought conflict, the famous but not decisive victory of the 
Boyne Water. On this occasion fell, on William's side, the 



AND THE BRITISH ISLANDS. 221 

Duke of Schomberg, the eminent soldier to whom Portugal 
had owed her independence. To commemorate this battle, 
I learned that a lofty obelisk. has been raised on the field, 
a little more than two miles and a half above the town. 

In relation to Dundalk, I observe that it stands on a little 
river named the Castletown River, about fifteen or sixteen 
miles to the north of Drogheda, and that it contains a popu- 
lation of about ten thousand. It possesses a jail and court- 
house, and some good streets ; but the old part of it has 
quite a mean appearance. It was anciently of considerable 
importance, one thing that contributed to this being the 
circumstance that it lay on the northern verge of the old 
district inhabited by the Anglo-Normans, called the Anglian 
Pale. I may remark that this old town has two things con- 
nected with its history in medieval times, that served to 
kindle in me considerable curiosity in respect to it. Indeed 
but for these I would probably have passed it by without 
any special notice. Here, — during the war that grew out 
of the invasion of Edward de Bruce, (brother to the Bruce 
of Bannockburn,) who landed in Ireland, at the head of a 
Scottish army, on May 15, 1315, — occurred some of the 
most important events connected with that war. Soon after 
his landing, it was stormed by De Bruce and burned. Hero, 
or rather about a mile off, was he crowned king of Ireland. 
Within two miles of it, at Taughart, about three years after, 
— in the autumn of 1318, — did Lord John Bermingham, a 
Palian chief, defeat him in the decisive battle of Dundalk ; 
in which (after having fought in various parts of the island 
no less than eighteen engagements, in most of which he was 
victor,) he fell. And here, in the churchyard of Taughart, 
was all of him that the gloomy harshness of his enemies 
would permit to be covered by its mother-earth, buried, — 
the spot being still pointed out to the stranger as King 
Bruce's grave. Besides, it is worthy of being noted, when 
speaking in relation to the town ^Dundalk, that in it, not 
far from the time at wliich the events, of which I have been 
speaking, occurred, the famous Richard Fitz-Ralph was born. 
This man gave the first indication in the middle ages that 
there was any one who felt that some reform in the Christian 
Church was needed. Celebrated in his day as a preacher, 
he did not fail at London and Lichfield, in England, at 
Drogheda, Dundalk, and Trim, in Ireland, and at Avig- 

18* 



222 TRAVELS IN FRANCE 

non in France, to which last-named city he was cited, about 
1360, by Pope Innocent YI., to answer for his alleged errors, 
■ — I say he did not fail in these various places to thunder 
with all the force of his eloquence against what he deemed 
the errors of the Western Branch of the Christian Church. 
So much for my journey from Dublin to Belfast. 

This town, as is well known to every one having any 
knowledge of. Ireland, is one of the most thriving, orderly, 
industrious, and enterprising towns in the British Islands. 
No one can conceive of the advances it has made, except 
some one who, in past days, like myself, knew it well, and 
who, after a long absence, (in my case a little more than 
twenty-four years,) has returned to visit it. It has now a 
population of one hundred thousand, and there is as little 
appearance of drunkenness, idleness, poverty, or want, as in 
any place that I have ever been in ; indeed, I may affirm 
that neither here, nor in Dublin, nor in any other place in 
which I have been since I landed at Kingston, have I seen a 
single beggar. It is uniformly, I may say, well built, and 
has many fine streets, — of which I will only name High 
Street, which is the great business street, and Chichester 
Street, noted for its fine private residences ; it has also some 
fine squares, as Donegal Square and College Square. Yet 
with all its wealth and public spirit, — and it largely possesses 
both, — and though it has many well-sustained public institu- 
tions, there is a lack of public edifices remarkable for either 
their antiquity or their architecture or grandeur. In this 
respect it resembles most American cities. Indeed, the only 
edifice remarkable for its tasteful architecture, in the town, 
is the new Queen's College, and (strange to tell) it is built 
of brick. Otherwise, it would be worthy of being mentioned 
with very high distinction. In the neighborhood of the 
borough is a large and very noble botanic garden, which I 
have inspected with great attention ; one that would be an 
ornament, in many respe^Q^, to Paris or London. Belfast is 
connected by canals and railroads with many of the finest 
districts of the North of Ireland. The Laggan, the stream 
on which it stands, is small, yet it has a sufficiently spacious 
harbor, which is accessible to ships of a large size when they 
have partially unloaded their freights, at four miles below. 

The population is composed of quite a church-going peo- 
ple. It is divided into about three equal parts, the Episco- 



AND THE BRITISH ISLANDS. 223 

palian, Dissenting, and Roman Catholic. The Presbyterian 
section of the Dissenters is distinguished for the talents and 
eloquence of several of its clergy. Among these I may 
name Doctors Cooke, Morgan, and Edgar, belonging to the 
Irish General Assembly, and Dr. Montgomery, belonging to 
the Unitarian Presbyterians ; three of whom. Doctors Cooke, 
Morgan, and Montgomery, I have been so fortunate as to 
hear preach. Both as a pulpit orator and a debater, Dr. 
Cooke is unsurpassed by any living man, (I speak not merely 
from present impressions, but from impressions of more than 
twenty-four years' standing,) and Dr. Montgomery, though 
very far from being equal to the other as a preacher, equals 
him as a platform speaker and a debater, and indeed, in re- 
spect to excellence of voice and power of imagination, sur- 
passes him. Having heard many speakers in the Senate, at the 
bar, and in the pulpit, in America, and having heard many 
of the most celebrated speakers in the Parliament, at the bar, 
and in the pulpits, of England, I give this to you as being 
my deliberate opinion. The fact is, I have never heard from 
any speaker anything to equal, (I mean as to this point,) 
the splendid though somewhat ragged climaxes of Doctor 
Cooke. And the elocution of these men, — and this though 
Cooke has now all the looks of a quite aged man, and Mont- 
gomery is quite stooped and bent, — is in keeping, as to its 
beauty and dignity, with the eloquence of their language 
and the excellence of their matter. In connection with my 
mention of the names of these men, I would state that I 
have formed the acquaintance of the eminent author, Dr. 
McCosh. This man, who seems to be about forty years 
of age, is a Scotchman, though no one would suspect this 
from his accent in private conversation. He now occupies 
the chair of Logic in (^leen's College. Pleasant, modest, 
unassuming, and dignified, he receives his friends with the 
greatest kindness. A more conversable and reasonable com- 
panion, a friend milder and more companionable, is not easily 
to be met with. I need not tell you that his success as an 
author has been very great. And I have been informed 
that he is quite eminent as a preacher. 

I will conclude this letter with a word or two as to the 
past of the borough from which I address you. 

Belfast has less of a history connected with it than most of 
the large towns on this side of the Atlantic. Before the deso- 



224 TRAVELS IN FRANCE 

lating conflict and carnage of 1641, it does not seem to have 
been a place of any great consequence, having been more noted 
for numerous and extensive iron-works in its neighborhood 
than for its trade. Yet its population must have been con- 
siderable, since it is recorded with respect to it that, in the 
pestilential fever which in the year named ravaged the coun- 
try, (in consequence partly of famine, partly of hardships, 
and partly of the number of corpses unburied,) there died in 
it and Malone together, about two thousand persons. Sub- 
sequently it came, during said conflict, to be occupied by a, 
garrison of Protestant soldiery, these being, in the first place, 
Irish; and, in 1644, this garrison was compelled to come, 
though with great reluctance on the part of a portion of it, 
under the command of the Scottish general, Monro, who 
brought it under his military control by surprising the town. 
Again, between forty and fifty years after this, — in June, 
1690, — King William III. made it, during a number of 
days, his residence, along with the Duke of Schomberg, the 
Prince of Wirtember":, the Prince of Denmark, the Duke of 
Ormond, and many other distinguished persons, (noblemen 
and commoners.) In the days of the Irish Volunteers, and 
afterwards in those of the United Irishmen, it was distin- 
guished for warm patriotism. About 1813, it became the 
seat of a new Dissenting College, named the Royal Belfast 
Academical Institution, a seminary of learning distinguished 
for the attainments of its professors. And I add that, within 
a few years, this seminary has been superseded by a univer- 
sity chartered and richly enaowed by Parliament. 

I conclude by subscribing myself, &c., M. P. 

P. S. — I purpose to leave in a couple of hours for Lon- 
donderry by steamboat. • 



AND THE BRITISH ISLANDS. 225 



NO. XX Y. 

Voyage to Deny — Fog — Dpi-ry — .Tonrncy to Swilly Bay — Appearance of Country — 
Eay — ilemiuisceuces, &c. — Americiins. 

R , County of Donegal, ) 

July, 1855. J 

I CONCLUDED to come to Londonderry from Belfast by 
steamboat, and, (the steamer starting, for what reason I do 
not know, several hours earlier than the hour that she was 
advertised for in the newspapers,) after a passage extending 
through a night and a considerable part of the next day, 
arrived in the first-named city, — from within about thir- 
teen miles of which I now address you. What detained us 
so long on the water was a thick fog, during which our cap- 
tain lay by. Otherwise, our brief voyage was quite pleasant. 

Sailing, toward the evening, from the wharf in Belfast, as 
we passed down the Bay, the atmosphere being clear and 
transparent, we had a fine view of the country on either 
shore. It is beautiful, and well cultivated, and the numer- 
ous white cottages contribute to confer on it an appearance 
of liveliness and happiness. We had also, as we passed, a 
sight of the town and old castle of Carrickfergus. Then 
appeared before us a far-stretching mist, the thin vapor that 
betokens the presence of the wide sea. When I awoke in 
bed, next morning, I thought, from the stillness of the boat, 
that we were already lying beside one of the quays of Derry. 
But, to my disappointment, on going on deck I found v/e 
were yet far in the midst of the waste of waters. The wide 
expanse, too, was covered with a fog so thick that it seemed 
as if one might cut it with a knife. Xor could the captain 
tell exactly where we were. In such circumstances, on the 
rock-bound coast of Ireland, and in a very narrow sea, the 
only path to safety is to lie-to. In this manner were we 
detained during several hours, so that we did not reach our 
destined port till after mid-day. As we passed up the Foyle, 
the day being lovely, we had a very fine prospect of the 
shores on either hand. Not anything can be conceived 
more beautiful than they are ; one respectable-looking resi- 
dence after another, embowered in shrubbery, being pre- 



226 TRAVELS IN FRANCE 

sented to the view almost all the way up, — a distance, I pre- 
sume, of more than twenty miles. Then, my seafaring for 
the present being ended, upon going ashore I was induced, 
by the advice of a fellow-passenger, to go to the Commer- 
cial Inn, near the steamboat-landing; which inn I found to 
be very comfortable, and indeed pleasant. 

I had, before leaving Derry, no great opportunity to see 
it, (a city once familiar to me as having gone to school in 
the neighborhood,) since I had to accommodate myself to a 
vehicle starting in a couple of hours for near the place that 
I write this letter from. Yet, short as was my stay, I could 
not help the receiving of impressions, nor could I help the 
making of some inquiries. On looking around, I could see 
that the city was far from being stationary. In the last 
twenty-three years it has made very manifest progress, both 
in extending itself and in the renewal of its buildings. In- 
' deed, it seems, at this time, as well built as any city I have 
seen in Europe or America ; a thing that was far from being 
the case a quarter of a century ago. It has now, also, two 
important railroads connecting it" very intimately with large 
districts of country and with Belfast and Dublin. Moreover, 
its steamboat trade has greatly increased. Yet, of late years 
it has suffered muclf in two points of view. The linen trade, 
once so important, has died almost entirely away ; no doubt 
a result flowing from Eli Whitney's invention of the cotton- 
gin and the consequent cheapening of cotton fabrics. Be- 
sides, a vast amount of foreign trade, that once centred in 
it, has been transferred to Liverpool ; on account, no doubt, 
of the regular packet communications established betwixt 
all the great foreign ports and that great emporium, and 
of the facilities of intercourse, by steamboat, that now sub- 
sist between the two ports. But, while things that are 
artificial change, the aspect of nature is the same. The 
city still stands on the broad summit of a hill ; the beautiful 
and deep River Foyle still winds around its southern base ; 
the deep, broad ravine of past times still lies to the north ; 
Culmore Point and Fort are still to be seen, off the walls, 
down the river, where, on the 28ih of July, 1689, was wit- 
nessed the memorable scene of the Mountjoy, the Phoenix, 
and the Dartmouth Frigate, in spite of a hail-storm of 
bombs and balls, breaking the boom across the stream to 
bring relief to a people, among whom the heads of dogs 



AND THE BRITISH ISLANDS. ' 221 

brought, two shillings and sixpence a-piece, cats four and 
sixpence a-piece, and a mouse sixpence. But I do not in- 
tend to give an account of Derry in this letter. 

I made some inquiries as to old acquaintances, and as to 
persons of whom I once had some knowledge. On inquiring 
with respect to one with whom, in days gone by, I was on 
terms of intimate familiarity, — a young man as accomplished 
and of as agreeable and winning an address as any one that 
I have ever known, a scholar and a man at once of talents 
and of unblemished integrity and morals, — I learned the 
particulars of his death, the general fact having been before 
not unknown to me. Some time after having finished his 
college and professional courses of study, he had been em- 
ployed to assist, in the capacity of surgeon, Colonel Taylor 
and Captain Lynch in making an exploration of the Eu- 
phrates and Tigris, with a view to open a new channel of 
communication and trade with the East Indies. Subsequent 
to the winding up of his duties on the plains of Babylon and 
Ninevah, and in the regions adjoining, he had engaged in 
some commercial projects in company with another; and, 
while the two were in the East, — this latter referred-to per- 
son at Bassora, and he at Shiraz, — attending to their affairs, 
he, when returning to his lodgings at ten o'clock at night, 
after having spent the evening with a Persian gentleman, 
received an injury by the fall upon him of an old wall, in 
consequence of which he died at four on the following morn- 
ing, the morning of the 24th of July, 1845. Peace be to 
his ashes, which repose among the Musselmen of Shiraz, 
unmarked by a stone ; the stone raised to his memory being 
placed in the Armenian Church at Bassora; as, if placed 
over his body, his friends were told that it would be broken 
by the fanaticism of the followers of the false prophet. In 
a Christian sense I would say in respect to him, following 
in the footsteps of the old Roman when bidding adieu to his 
recently buried dead, " Yale, — vale, — supremum vale : — sit 
tibi terra levis, et facilis somnus." On inquiring for another 
old friend, I learned that he had become blind, and t^is 
though still a young man. On inquiring for some others, 
persons, when 1 last saw them, not young, I was guided to 
their house and found them old, decrepit, and sinldng into 
the grave. On inquiring for others still, I learned that they 
had become prosperous professional men, distinguished at 



228 TRAVELS IN FRANCE 

the bar, in the sick-room, and in the pulpit. And on 
inquiry for a wealthy merchant who had dealt, among 
other things, in wines and liquors, I learned that that which 
had been an important instrument in increasing his wealth, 
already great, had, by a striking Providence, caused his 
death ; that a liquor cask, which was about being raised by 
a pulley, had fallen upon him and brought to a quick conclu- 
sion his connection with transitory things. 

But the hour for the jaunting-car to start soon arrived, 
and I was again on my way. Our road lay, for about two 
miles, along the river and parallel to the railroad to Stra- 
bane, and then crossed the body of country lying between 
the River Foyle and Swilly Bay, in the direction of this bay. 
This road running through a long series of carefully tilled 
farms was not new to me any more than Derry had been. 
Yet, amid a general unchanging sameness, what changes I 
Here, about three and a half miles from the city, had been 
a vast bog when I last passed; and, not a long time before 
that, I following, in company with a hunting party, a pack 
of beagles, (for the one time in my life,) the horses had 
been compelled to skirt this at its utmost verge. But 
now not merely a dozen horsemen, (such about had been the 
number of the party spoken of,) but a regiment of cuirassiers 
on their heavy ^var- steeds, might, without dread of quagmire, 
gallop over the same soil. It had been converted into the 
most beautiful green fields and farm to be seen in any land. 
Upon this farm I may observe that I saw a new sort of 
fence, that I have not seen anywhere else. It was not fixed 
in the ground but set on it, — except an occasional post sunk 
here and there, — being composed of a number of detached 
parts locked together, these parts being like those instru- 
ments on which clothes are dried, called clothes-horses. 
Having left this farm behind us, we then passed, a few miles 
on, the beautiful sheet of water named Portlough, with its 
deer-park ; which old park I found to have nearly disap- 
peared. Then we passed extensive shrubberies and a fine 
manor, one of the residences of the Marquis of Wicklow. 
Then we passed through Newton, with its old castle of the 
reign of James I., now only inhabited as to a few rooms; 
the castle lying on our left hand amid old woods venerable 
for the size and stateliness of their trees, and a wide culti- 
vated marsh of land inexhaustibly rich, from which the sea 



AND THE BRITISH ISLANDS. 229 

has been shut off by a rampart, lying, on our right, in the 
direction of the neighboring bay of Swilly. And then, one 
mile farther on, we reached a large arm of this bay itself, 
eight miles from Derry. Crossing this expanse of water, (at 
this place about two miles wide at full tide,) from its gently 
heaving bosom, as the boat carried me over, I gazed at lei- 
sure on all around. Almost every part of either landscape 
within view had been trodden by my youthful feet. Among 
other objects, on the shore before me, were visible the ruins 
of the Abbey of Killydonnel, in which ancient religious 
house monks had for centuries performed their devotions, 
but which has long been mere shapeless heaps of stones, 
with only some few of the cloisters and some ivy-covered 
walls standing. A poet has said that, 

"The faintest relics of a shrine 
Of any worship summon thoughts divine;" 

and no wonder then if I w€re moved by those old, broken 
and totteriug fragments of a medieval structure that once 
sheltered men, some at least of whom truly loved the Lord. 
Also, on both shores what fine woods and stately mansions 
were visible, the abodes of wealth and luxury ! But the boat 
soon touched the quay of the western shore, and I found 
myself within a few miles of the spot from which I write this 
epistle. The short remaining part of my day's journey was 
mostly performed while twilight was gradually curtaining 
the landscape with the darkening shades of the night. 
Partly on this account, and partly because what remains 
touches so delicately on the most sacred sensibilities of our 
nature, — these sensibilities being, in this case, specially af- 
fected by reminiscences of change and death, — I here cease, 
at least at this time, to say anything more of the scenes and 
events of the short remainder of the evening. 

Next day I looked all around on the scenes of past-gone 
days; at the old stone-house, which has stood nearly two 
hundred years, extending almost as far lengthwise as some 
palaces, and yet only a portion of it two stories in height ; 
at the garden, in which I had so often planted garden escu- 
lents ; at the orchard, now growing old ; at the noisy stream 
of water, running at its foot, and only separated from it by 
the highway ; and at the green, fairy hill rising beyond, 
which I have often thought, and which I still think, one 

19 



230 TRAVELS IN PRANCE 

of the most beautiful objects on whicli buman eye can rest. 
After this, by an ascent which is very gradual and which 
continues for more than a mile's distance, I made my way to 
the broad level surface of a ridge covered with heath; on 
which heathy expanse, in years long gone by, I had spent 
many a Saturday's afternoon, (there being then no school,) 
partly with a book, and, while thus employed, occasionally 
listening to the song of the soaring lark or to the notes of 
the cuckoo, and partly keeping a look-out after a flock of 
cattle. From this spot, what a prospect ! In one direc- 
tion are situated, at many miles off, bare mountains of per- 
pendicular rock, rising, it would seem, six or seven hundred 
feet : in another are visible the ruins of an old Danish fort : in 
another is a beautiful little river coursing through a wide fer- 
tile valley containing a lordly mansion and fine plantations: 
in another is a boundless extent of heath with its little blue 
flowers and innumerable humming-bees : and in another, in 
fall view, lies, stretched out, Swilly Bay, with its various ob- 
jects of interest, to wit: the Eagle's Nest, a hill, (on its 
eastern shore,) on which are the ruins of the stronghold of 
an ancient Irish prince, and, on the opposite shore, the place 
whence, in 1607, the powerful Earls of Tyrone and Tyrconnel 
had set sail, when abandoning their native land forever; next, 
the little mountainous isle, in which the Williamites of 1688 
had had a camp during the siege of Derry, and where Kirke's 
ships had ignobly lain by ; next, four of the six massive bat- 
teries built along the bay-shore to keep the United Men 
from getting aid, in men or arms, from revolutionary France ; 
next, the spot where the brave but unfortunate Captain Pack- 
enham, of the frigate Saldanna, and his three hundred men, 
in 1812, had found a watery grave; and, beyond all these, 
the blue mist rising from that district of ocean on which, in 
the fall of 1798, Sir Burlase Warren had defeated the squa- 
dron of Commodore Bompart. While lying among the 
heather and gazing around on the things enumerated, and ' 
at the same time dwelling on some of the associations con- 
nected with them, I strove in vain to catch the notes of a 
single lark singing in the far-up sky, — the place on which I 
was stretched being one where, in other days, I would, in a 
quarter of an hour, have heard the music of a dozen of this 
tribe of songsters. While thus reclining, a mountaineer ap- 
proached me, with whom I entered into a long conversation. 



AND THE BRITISH ISLANDS. 231 

Upon my speaking of the scarcity of the lark tribe, com- 
pared with past years, he, after a little, pointed out to me, 
first one lark, and then two or three, soaring so high as to 
be both nearly invisible and inaudible. I then began inqui- 
ries as to old school-fellows and acquaintances. One old 
school-fellow, born to independence and more than compe- 
tence, had led so thoughtless a life that, having sold his 
property and collected only part of the money, he went to 
Australia and thence to 'New Zealand, and the uncollected 
money was, after sixteen years of absence, still unclaimed. 
He must therefore be dead. Another, a surgeon in the em- 
ploy of the government, had been aboard an ocean steamer 
that had caught fire at sea. He escaped into a boat, but, 
seeing a child still on the burning deck, returned to the ship, 
and, having seized it, attempted to leap with it to the place 
of safety in which he had lately been. Alas I the child was 
cast into the boat, while he himself sank at its edge to rise no 
more. Another had sailed for the Western Continent, but 
the ship and all on board had perished at sea. Another 
had gone to British America, had taken part with the in- 
surgents, and lost his life in the civil commotions of Canada. 
One was a missionary in a British colony. Two were law- 
yers, one an attorney and the other a counselor. Several 
had graduated to the healing art. A couple were clergy- 
men in their native land. Several were farmers, and several 
merchants. And two were living on landed properties- 
Then, as to neighbors, what changes ! 

Immediately on my coming into this neighborhood no less 
than two Americans came in the following of my footsteps, 
(the presence of an American here being ordinarily very un- 
usual,) one of them a clergyman from Quincy, Illinois, and 
the other a Philadelphian. I heard the minister, who is on 
his way to Switzerland, preach an excellent discourse on yes- 
terday. I myself preached twice, once in one of the Presby- 
terian churches, (which are three in number,) and the other 
time in the Methodist. 

I conclude this letter by observing that I purpose to leave 
this place to-morrow, either for Dublin, (where on to-morrow 
the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church in Ire- 
land meets,) or perhaps for Glasgow, intending to pass 
thence to Edinburgh. 

Yours, &c., M. F. 



232 TRAVELS IN FRANC3 



NO. XXYL 



Voyage to Glasgow — Beacon-lights— Short Stay at Greenock— Mouth of the Clyde — 
Glasgow — Broomielaw — Railroads to Edinburgh — Edinburgh — Scene in Prince's 
Street — General Description of the City — Society — Population — Castle — Soldiery — 
No Music — Holyrood — Its Chapel— Koyal Burial Vaults, &c. — More Ancient Scottish 
Palaces — Old Parliament House — Wodrow's P.emai-k — University — Assembly Hall 
of the Established Church — Knox's House — Spot of Martyrdom. 

Edinburgh, Julz/, 1855. 

The last letter I wrote to you was dated on the 2d inst., 
and quite early on the following day I left the region west 
of Swilly Bay, in which I had been staying, intending on my 
return to it from my present journey to make up for the 
briefness of my sojourn by prolonging the time of my visit to 
a considerable while. My design in this epistle is to make 
you acquainted with such things as may have come under 
my view since I last addressed you. I write in haste, and I 
will try to be as brief as I conveniently can. When leaving 
the abode (once my home) in which I had been tarrying, in 
the County of Donegal, the idea uppermost in my mind was 
to go to Dublin, to be present at the meeting of the Irish 
Assembly of the Presbyterian Church, but on reaching 
Derry, and on making some inquiries there, I was Jed to 
conclude to pass to Scotland. I had lately been in Dublin, 
and I felt but little desirous of returning so soon ; and in 
Derry I found a boat, with her steam up, just ready to sail 
for Glasgow. 

Our voyage across the North Channel, the portion of sea 
separating the North of Ireland and West of Scotland, was 
pleasant ; and, after witnessing such an array of beacon-lights, 
along the shores of that peninsula in Ayrshire named Can- 
tire and of the isles of Arran and Bute, as can scarcely be 
seen anywhere else in the world, we found ourselves, on the 
next morning, in the spacious Firth of Clyde. Soon we 
reached Greenock, where we lay several hours, landing a 
number of passengers and discharging a portion of our 
cargo. During this time I was permitted to make an in- 
spection of a part of the town ; but, as the morning was wet 
and chilly, and I was afraid to be left, did not long absent 



AND THE BRITISH ISLANDS. 233 

myself from the vessel. You cannot expect me, in these 
circumstances, to say more of the place than what almost 
everybody, who knows anything of it, already knows. It is 
a comparatively modern town in Renfrewshire ; has exten- 
sive and excellent quays and docks, an extensive trade, and 
several good buildings ; is generally well built ; and contains 
a population of nearly forty thousand persons. Also, it is 
connected by railroad with Glasgow. Besides, it is cele- 
brated as the birth-place of Watt, the improver, or, I might 
say, the inventor, of the steam-engine, who was the son of a 
tradesman of Greenock, having been born there in 1*736. It 
only remains that I remark that, though most of the streets 
are on a dead level, a part of the town stands on the side of 
a steep eminence. 

At length, leaving Greenock, we proceeded on our way 
up the noble bay. Soon Dumbarton Castle, — a fortress of 
such great antiquity that it is on good grounds thought to 
have been a Roman station, standing on an isolated rock 
in the water, (the town of Dumbarton lying behind it,) a 
castle greatly celebrated in Scottish history, — was in view. 
Then the bay, after a short while, became narrow, and soon 
we were in the River Clyde. Thenceforward our boat ad- 
vanced slowly on account of the confined character of the 
stream which though deep is quite narrow ; and of which 
I would say that it has banks the most verdant and lovely 
that can be pictured by human imagination. Then Glas- 
gow, with its famed Green which lies toward the lower part 
of the city, came in view. And then, in a brief time, our 
steamer was lying with her side to the Broomielaw, a wide 
street built only on one of its sides and extending far 
along the river. 

I only stopped in Glasgow a brief time till, having put 
myself aboard a railroad train, I was on my way for this 
city. There are two rival railways connecting Glasgow and 
Edinburgh. The train, on the one by which I sought con- 
veyance, passing through a country beautiful, picturesque, 
highly improved, but by no means naturally very fertile, 
brought me, in a little more than two hours, in sight of 
Edinburgh Castle, and, in a few minutes afterwards, into 
the great railroad depot in the deep valley between the Old 
and Sew Towns of Edinburgh. On steppmg out of the cars, 
the traveler has to ascend by very long stairways before he 

19* 



234 TRAVELS IN FRANCE 

reaches the level of the adjacent streets. When I had 
ascended these, I found myself standing in Prince's Street 
in the New Town, the noblest street in the city. The day 
had become fine and the air genial ; and the sight which I 
now witnessed surpassed anything I have ever seen in any 
other city, except the Champs Elysees in Paris, which may 
somewhat surpass it in beauty and certainly surpasses it in 
grandeur, but which is not at all its equal in picturesqueness. 
Even Trafalgar Square in London, and the prospect from 
Carlile Bridge in Dublin, are inferior to it. The fact is, that 
to stop in one of the fine houses around me seemed like 
going to board in one of the palaces of fairy-land. Upon 
looking around, the sign of a Temperance Hotel close by 
the depot attracted my attention, and, having entered, I 
was soon fixed in comfortable quarters and with moderate 
charges. 

You will no doubt expect me to explain to you how I 
have passed my time, and what are the things which I have 
seen, that I think most worthy of notice, since my arrival in 
this city. How to meet your expectation I scarcely know. 
I will endeavor, however, to give you, though I can promise 
to do this just now only in part, the desired information. 

I am now sitting in a room in the southern extremity of 
the new or northern division of Edinburgh, (No. 3 South 
St. Andrew Street,) near the noble monument to Sir Walter 
Scott, and with the backs of the precipitously high houses 
on High Street, in that part of the city called the Old Town, 
full in view. From this point let me attempt to give you a 
general idea of the site of Edinburgh, of some of its main 
streets, and of its general appearance. Behind me, to the 
north, is the New Town on a not very lofty ridge that gradu- 
ally sinks, on its north side, to the shore of the Frith of 
Forth, which is distant a mile and a half. Before me, to the 
south, is the Old Town standing on two ridges, one of which, 
rising from about one hundred to about three hundred and 
fifty feet in height, is alone visible ; the other, behind it, be- 
ing considerably lower. On the lofty western extremity of 
the middle ridge stands the Castle, the loftiest and most 
striking object in view. Prince's Street in the New Town, 
one of the noblest in the world, runs, in a direction ap- 
proaching to east and west, along the southern edge of the 
ridge on which it stands; one side alone of it being built, 



AND THE BRITISH ISLANDS. 235 

and the other side opening on the beautifully adorned walks 
and shady grass-plots of a ravllie, — the same ravine or val- 
ley in which I said above I found myself on my arrival from 
Glasgow. When this ravine has been crossed, there are a 
steep street in one place, and in another place a very wide 
staircase of stone, perhaps the longest staircase in the world; 
and by either one of these ways the ascent is made to High 
Street, the street running east and west along the middle 
and highest one of the three ridges that I have spoken of. 
This street extends from Holyrood Palace on the east, the 
lower part. of it being called Cannongate Street, to the Castle 
on the west ; and, throughout its entire length, it is exceed- 
ingly steep. We thus have two streets running partly par- 
allel to each other, east and west, the one the most import- 
ant street in the New Town and the other in the Old ; and 
from these two leading thoroughfares it is easy for the stran- 
ger to make his v/ay to any part of the city. The ravine 
between the New and Old Towns, (the same ravine spoken 
of just above,) is, I would judge, about one hundred yards 
wide, and has, in one part, a number of railroad depots 
which are reached through tunnels, and, in the other part, is 
most tastefully and picturesquely laid out in flower-gardens, 
grass-plots, and little groves, with graveled walks, for pro- 
menading, between. It is also crossed by a bridge, and, at a 
considerable distance from this, by a tunneled earthen mound. 
Another ravine, which one lies be|^een those two ridges on 
which the Old Town is built, contains a deep-down street 
named Cowgate Street, and is spanned by a bridge that 
crosses higli above said street at right angles with it. In 
addition to these things, I would mention the various open 
spaces by which this capital is, at once, ventilated and 
adorned, as St. Andrew's and Charlotte Squares in the New 
Tovv^n, George's Square in the southern part of the city, the 
Royal Park beyond Holyrood House, the beautiful grounds, 
(of which I have already spoken,) in the yawning chasm be- 
tween the Old and New Towns, the noble octagon named 
Moray Place, and the small square called Parliament 
Square. Nor ought Calton Hill, when speaking of the 
open spaces in Edinburgh, to be passed by, rearing its 
monument-crowned head over the New Town, Leith, and 
the waters of the Forth. 

As to the convenience, commerce, manufactures, society. 



236 TRAVELS IN FRx^CE 

and population, I would drop to you an observation or two. 
Once no city, almost, was more inconvenient than this ; but 
this long-complained-of infelicity has been completely reme- 
died. It is particularly well lighted, while a very abundant 
supply of water is brought eight miles from the Pentland 
Hills on the southwest. Compared with Glasgow, this city 
can scarcely be considered a seat of commerce or manufac- 
tures; country gentlemen, professional men, and men ad- 
dicted to the pursuits of literature or science, forming, in 
lieu of enterprising and successful merchants, the leading 
class. Yet if Leith be taken along with it, (and the two, at 
one point of contact, are now built into one,) it 'is not defi- 
cient in these points of view. As to the society of the place, 
it has for a long time been unequaled in some respects, when 
the place's size is taken into view. In confirmation of this, 
it is only needful to name some of those who, in their day, 
gave character and bias to it, to wit: Hume, the historian; 
Ferguson, the moral philosopher and historian ; Karnes, the 
philosopher and eminent lawyer; Gilbert Stuart, the histo- 
rian ; Adam Smith, the moral philosopher and political 
economist; Cullen, the physician; Robertson, the historian; 
Monboddo, the lawyer and learned but whimsical author; 
Blair, the critic and eloquent divine ; Macknight, the Greek 
philologist; Mackenzie, the elegant and popular writer; 
Dagald Stewart, the moral philosopher; and, along with 
these, Jeffrey, Horner, I^ougham, Scott, Brown, Campbell, 
Thomson, and Chalmers. Surely, since " The Eye of 
Greece " was dimmed, no other city of equal population can 
enumerate such a list of great names. And surely the 
society in which such men moved must have received a tinc- 
ture from their characters. And as to the amount of popu- 
lation here, I remark that it has reached as high as it is 
desirable that the population of any city should ever rise. 
Overgrown cities are to the body politic what great wens are 
to the human body, overdraining, and thus weakening, all 
the extremities. In them there can ordinarily be no all-per- 
vading sympathy ; those, that- dwell in the avenues that open 
from the opposite ends of such cities, feeling as to each 
other's interests as if these had nothing in common, — as if 
they were the interests of far disassociated provinces. A 
population of one hundred and sixty thousand, (the pre- 
sent population of Edinburgh,) is sufficient for all proper 



AND THE BRITISH ISLANDS. 23t 

social purposes ; and, if it grow at all, it is desirable that it 
should grow very slowly. 

But it is not enough that I give you an account thus 
general of Edinburgh : you will expect me to go into par- 
ticulars as to the various places in it that I have visited. 

About the first place to which I went, after my arrival, 
was the Castle. This edifice stands, at the west end of High 
Street, on a lofty rock that rises on three sides to several 
hundred feet above the surrounding ground of the town; 
and on the remaining side, the side next the thoroughfare 
named, the approach to it is quite precipitous. When one 
has chmbed up this antique and, (much of it,) well-built 
street, he comes to a spacious glacis or esplanade where the 
soldiers lying in the barracks of the Castle drill, morning 
and evening. Having passed this parade-ground, he crosses 
a drawbridge and is within the fortification. On each hand 
are frowning great guns, that would seem capable of sweep- 
ing away any force that would attempt an open hostile ap- 
proach. Then,— after a long advance, still up, up, — he finds 
himself in the heart of the stronghold and among the bar- 
racks. One of the most curious things to me was the im- 
mense cistern on the top of this craggy height, capable of 
furnishing a supply of water to a large garrison. While I 
was in Edinburgh, a numerous body of young Highlanders 
of various clans, in their national dress, was about being 
trained. There was also a considerable body of other in- 
fantry, a large portion of it being made up of Irish. Seve- 
ral times did I attend in the evenings to see these men go 
through their military exercises, and I must say that train- 
ing in the British army is thoroughly attended to. It is 
worthy of remark that music was absent: by orders from 
superiors, I was told, to show the sympathy of the soldiery 
with their fellow-soldiers who, along with the French, have 
experienced, some time ago, (on the 18th ultimo,) as no 
doubt you have learned from the newspapers, a terrible re- 
pulse by the Russians, in a general assault by the allied 
forces on Sebastopol. The Highlanders, however, played 
their bagpipes: I suppose because the orders did not extend 
to militia. Their costume is certainly very picturesque, 
though their bare legs and knees, (only covered by long 
stockings,) with the thighs only loosely covered by the 
lower part of the kilt, must greatly expose them to the cold 



238 TRAVELS IN FRANCE 

in winter. In the Castle are preserved the slender remains 
of the old Scottish regalia which, after having been long 
built in one of the walls, (this having been done during the 
Cornmonwealth,) were, some years ago, accidentally dis- 
covered. 

As to the history of this stronghold, it would seem that 
it was to the protection which it afforded that the city ori- 
ginally owed its being. Thus Simeon of Durham, an old 
chronicler, who, writing about 854, first makes mention of 
anything in connection with Edinburgh ; when he speaks of 
Edwinesburch, (the name he gives it,) there is reason for 
entertaining the opinion, that he simply and merely means 
Edwin's Castle or Stronght)ld, the Edwin giving his name 
to this castle being a Prince of jN'orthumberland. From the 
day on which it came into existence as a fortification till civil 
commotions and foreign wars ceased in Scotland, it is pre- 
eminently connected with Scottish history. Its history is 
associated with the sway, in the Lothians, of the Saxons 
who held these counties till 1020 ; with Edward I. of Eng- 
land, and with Wallace ; with Bruce, during whose struggle 
for Scottish independence, it was surprised by Sir Thomas 
Randolph, who, clambering up its south side with thirty 
men, — guided by a man named Francis, that had long lived 
in the Castle, — opened the way for the overthrow of the 
English garrison ; with Mary of Guise, Queen-regent, who 
died in it; with Mary Queen of Scots, and her son, James I, 
of England, who was born in a small room in it, which is 
still shown to visitors; and, lastly, with the Highlanders, 
and Prince Charles, who besieged it in 1145. 

Next, let me invite you to go with me to the old Palace 
of Holyrood. This stands, on an extensive level of low 
ground, at the very bottom of Cannongate Street, and thus 
on the eastern edge of the city. After crossing a middling]y 
handsome paved space, the visitor having passed a sentinel 
enters a gatev/ay which leads into the court of the edifice, — ■ 
which court is about ninety feet square and surrounded by a 
piazza. Around this court the edifice, which forms a quad- 
rangle, is built. Only two sides of the quadrangle are open 
to the public, the otlier two sides being occasionally occu- 
pied, by the Queen and her household, when passing through 
the city ; by the Duke of Hamilton, the hereditary keeper of 
the palace; by the Royal Commissioner to the Assembly of 



AND THE BRITISH ISLANDS. 239 

the Church of Scotland, who here, during the meetings of 
this body, holds levees and gives entertainments ; or by other 
influential persons. The part open to the public, however, 
includes what has the chief interest attached to it, to wit: 
first, the gallery of one hundred and fifty feet in length, con- 
taining the portraits (some of them fanciful and some real) 
of the kings of Scotland, from Fergus I. (who began to 
reign about 503) to the present time; and in which the 
sixteen peers of Scotland are elected to represent their 
order in the Imperial House of Lords : and, secondly, the 
northwest tower containing the chamber of Mary Queen of 
Scots, (with the remains of her crimson-damask bed,) and 
the closet from which Rizzio, Mary's Secretary, was dragged 
to be murdered, with the spot on vfhich this tragedy was en- 
acted. Where the unhappy Italian fell a dark stain is visi- 
ble in the floor, and guides often assert this to have been 
made by his blood. No credit, however, is to be given to 
this story, since the present flooring was put down long 
after his death. But though the oft-repeated statement, 
that the mark in the boards of the spot was made by the 
currrent from his wounds, be more than apocryphal, the 
identity of the place with that of his assassination cannot be 
doubted. It was undoubtedly there that, in the beginning 
of the night of March 9th, 1556, the hapless David Rizzio 
fell, after having received no less than fifty-six dagger stabs. 
Perhaps there is no deed of violence recorded in history, 
that was more boldly planned or fiercely executed than this 
one. The youthful and beautiful Mary had lately been mar- 
ried to her cousin. Lord Darnley, and was in such a situation 
as promised an heir to the throne. But, though, until after 
this time, guiltless, she was thoughtless and imprudent, and 
thus excited her husband's jealousy. As his friends, and to 
avenge his supposed wrong, on the occasion named, Morton, 
Lord Ruthven, and Lord Lindsay, with five hundred men, 
seized the palace ; Morton, with eighty men, bursting into 
the Queen's apartments while she, with Darnley and the 
Countess of Argyle, sat at supper. Then the favorite was 
sought out and found, and (Darnley meanwhile holding his 
screaming wife) fiercely butchered by innumerable daggers ; 
the assassins even stabbing each other in their furious efforts 
to strike their victim. Having looked intently more than 
once at the scene of this violence, and having wandered, 



240 TRAVELS IN PRANCE 

again and again, through all the various places and rooms 
to which the stranger has access, I made my way to that 
corner of the building where are the crumbling and roofless 
royal chapel, and the vault of several of the kings. Of this 
chapel the only remains now in existence are the ruined 
walls and broken pillars, with the east window, (though di- 
lapidated,) still in some degree of preservation; all being 
more or less covered with ivy. In one corner of it is the 
vault of the kings, just spoken of; it being also sunk into 
total decay and ruin. In this place of sepulture had been 
deposited, with all funereal pomp, the bodies of David II., 
James II., Arthur, James Y., Magdalene, (the Queen of 
James Y.,) and Arthur of Albany, the Lord Darnley ; 
but a frantic mob, in the time of the Commonwealth, 
dragged forth their bones to be buried elsewhere. Subse- 
quently, however, the desecrated relics, which the vile con- 
course had carried away, were brought back, and again en- 
tombed in this vault. On standing over it, I could scarcely 
bring myself to realize that I was bending over the moulder- 
ing bones and the dust of kings and queens, personages who, 
in their day, had received the homage, at once, of the hum- 
ble and the great. Having spent a considerable time amid 
the tombs of the chapel, for it contains not merely the royal 
vault, but also its floor is covered with gravestones, (beneath 
which innumerable courtiers rest,) I returned below to the 
court enclosed by the quadrangle of the palace ; through it, 
passing out to take a view of the exterior. With respect 
to this part, I would merely remark as to two things that 
specially attracted my notice. Strange to say, the magnifi- 
cent edifice is entirely cellarless, a circumstance that is said 
to render it damp and unhealthy. Also, when outside, I 
could not help admiring the perfection with which the care- 
fully hewn stones of the walls have been made by the ma- 
sons, with great skill in their art, to fit into each other. 

My curiosity as to the palace itself being now gratified, 
I proceeded to the inspection of some of the surrounding 
objects of interest. First, I directed my steps to the pretty 
little farmhouse-like dairy in which, nearly three hundred 
years ago, the Queen of Scots used to amuse herself with 
churning milk and making butter ; a building of about the 
size of an ordinary country school-house in America. Next, 
I directed my steps to Queen Mary's Garden, (at one of the 



AND THE BRITISH ISLANDS. 241 

angles of the palace,) a pretty old-fashioned garden of, I 
would judge, three-quarters of an acre in extent, adorned 
with a great variety of flowers, and having some fruit-trees. 
Not far from the gate stands, in this garden, Mary's sundial, 
the most curious object, in the line of dialing, that I have 
ever seen. Instead of either a horizontal or vertical plate, 
it consists of sections of hollow spheres, set horizontally 
around a perpendicular axis ; the concavities in these spheres 
facing outward in all directions, so that the sun, as he jour- 
neys around the sky, successively causes a shadow in each 
concavity, thus indicating the various fragments of the day, 
as one after another they arise. 

With respect to the history of this residence of the Scot- 
tish kings, I remark that the first beginning of said residence 
was an abbey, founded in 1128 by David I., with which was 
connected a royal cemetery. Of this abbey, I believe that 
the only fragment now remaining is the royal chapel spoken 
of above ; it having originally been the chapel of the abbey. 
In 1528 the building thus reared was enlarged by James Y,, 
who erected the tower of the northwest corner of the present 
edifice, still standing, containing Queen Mary's apartments ; 
and, having made this addition to it, this monarch converted 
it from a religious house into a palace. In the reign of 
Charles II., in 16H, most of the old edifice was taken down 
and the present one erected ; as to which I observe that, 
since that time, it has undergone no material change. I 
would add with respect to this palace, that it was inhabited 
by all the kings of Scotland from James V. until the thrones 
of England and Scotland became united in one person ; and 
that, since that event, it has been, during short periods, the 
abode of Charles I., Charles II., and James II. Also, since, 
among others, it has been occupied by Prince Charles, (in 
1745,) by the Bourbon Princes after the first French revo- 
lution, by George lY., by the daughter of Louis XYI., who, 
with her husband, the Due d'Angouleme, lived in it after 
the revolution of 1830, and by the present Queen, Yictoria, 
when traveling to the Highlands, who, however, never spends 
more than a night at a time in it. 

In connection with what I have said of the Palace of Ho- 
lyrood, I would remark that, though it is considerably more 
than three hundred years since it first became a royal resi- 
dence, no less than four or five palaces preceded it, in the 

20 . 



242 TRAVELS IN FRANCE 

long history of tlie Scottish kings. Thus Scottish royalty 
had its first residence in Argyleshire. Then it established 
itself at Scone, (two miles and a quarter to the north of 
Perth,) where was that stone, now in Westminster Abbey, on 
which the ancient kings used to be crowned. Then it es- 
tablished itself at Forres, (ten miles W.S.W. of Elgin,) on a 
blasted heath ; near to which, according to Shakspeare, Mac- 
beth first met "the weird sisters" whose prophecy put him 
on the murder of King Duncan. Then we find David I., 
the founder of Holyrood, — I mean as an abbey, and not as a 
palace, — having his royal abode at Inverkeithing, ten miles 
to the W.S.W. of Edinburgh. Next, we find James V. 
making Stirling Castle his palace. And it was only after 
all these places, (and, if I mistake not, one or two others 
also,) had been successively inhabited by the Scottish mon- 
archs, that they finally permanently fixed themselves at 
Edinburgh in Holyrood. 

Now let me take you along with me to the so-called Par- 
liament House. This building stands on Parliament Place, 
a small square through which High Street, the street running 
from the Castle to Holyrood Palace, passes. The old Par- 
liament House remained in a respectable state of preserva- 
tion till 1824, in which year it was mostly destroyed by fire. 
A part, however, was preserved ; and it was incorporated 
with the new edifice which was put up. Belonging to the 
part preserved is the old Parliament Hall, with oaken roof, 
built in 1632. In the cellar part of the Parliament House 
are the rooms of the Advocates' Library, a library contain- 
ing nearly one hundred and fifty thousand printed volumes, 
and two thousand manuscripts ; and which is not only large 
and skillfully selected, but which also, as I can testify, (hav- 
ing spent parts of two rainy days in it,) is conducted on the 
most generous and liberal principles. In relation to this 
building, I remark, that the transition from the original use 
to the present was made as little violent as possible ; judges, 
advocates, and courts of justice, being the things substituted 
for the assemblages of the ancient Estates of the kingdom. 
I would remark in relation to it, that there are few places 
on our globe, in which free popular assemblies invested with 
rule have sat, in reference to which it could be said that in 
them an amount of violent legislation has been had recourse 
to, equal to what has been either originated or adopted on 



AND THE BRITISH ISLANDS. 243 

this spot. The fact is, the Estates of North Britain, while 
in existence, were much more addicted to violent and tyran- 
nical rule than the Parliaments of England or Ireland, vio- 
lent and tyrannical though both of these very often were, 
especially that of the latter country. Witness the laws of 
the Scottish Legislature against the Covenanters. Well 
might Wodrow, (vol. iv. p. 364,) record of it, — when met in 
1686, — as an extraordinary thing, that it had spoken of the 
members having consciences ; a thing, he tells us, that had 
not been done in the Parliament House for a quarter of a 
century before. Yet, with all this, as every one must ac- 
knowledge who is at all acquainted with the history of this 
country, very many were the great, good, and patriotic men 
who, at various times, occupied seats in the Estates of Scot- 
land. 

I will now walk around with you to the IJniversity. This 
was one of the first places to which I was taken after ?oing 
to Edinburgh, and subsequently I paid it a short visit a 
second time. It is situated on a quiet, good-looking old 
street. From this one enters a spacious gateway, when he 
finds himself in a handsome and spacious court, around the 
four sides of which the admirably built walls of this cele- 
brated institution of learning rise. It is a large, tasteful, 
and imposing edifice of quite modern construction. The 
winter months, from the beginning of November till the be- 
ginning of May, are the period during which the*classes are 
assembled ; the summer months, on the part of the students, 
being appropriated chiefly to relaxation and private study. 
Thus, while I was in Edinburgh, scarcely a student was to 
be seen. And, even in the winter months, students are never 
present in the University except at the hours at which the 
classes meet to which they respectively belong. This arises 
from the fact that they do not board in the buildings con- 
nected with it, but in rented rooms throughout the city. I 
need scarcely say that it has a fine library and museum, and 
that among its professors have been several of the most cele- 
brated men, in their respective departments, that have ever 
lived. It was first founded in 1582, being of later origin 
than any one of the three other Scottish universities, St. 
Andrew's, Glasgow, and Aberdeen; and originally it had 
barely one professor and a proportionally small number of 
students, though the number of professors has now come to 



244 TRAVELS IN FRANCE 

amount to thirty-one, while the students are between sixteen 
hundred and seventeen hundred. 

Since I came hither I have also visited the Assembly 
Hall, to which I invite you to go with me ; (in which the 
General Assembly of the Church of Scotland holds its meet- 
ings ;) not a large building, but one of the most convenient 
and prettiest buildings, especially internally, that I have 
anywhere looked at. It was erected, I was told, about 1843. 
It stands on High Street, at some distance below the piece 
of ground on which the Highlanders raised their battery, 
when investing the Castle, in 1745. Here a street diverges 
from High Street at an acute angle, and in this angle it has 
been built. I would mention that the ground is very steep, 
and that much that is peculiar in the structure of the build- 
ing is owing to the architect's making his plan to conform 
to the character of the site. The entrance, which is in front, 
faces^he point where the streets, that I have spoken of, part. 
Entering here, I found myself in the outer vestibule, which 
is covered by the spire. Then I entered the inner vestibule, 
in which are found such conveniences as are usually to be 
met with in the back yard of a church, the hall not having 
any yard connected with it. Then, having passed through 
another door, I found myself on the main basement floor of 
the building, which floor is occupied by an aisle with com- 
mittee-rooms on each side. Then, I reached an apartment 
at the remf)te end of the edifice, in which stairs go up into 
the lobby leading into the main body of the house. As to the 
main body of the house, I observe that it is divided into three 
parts, to wit : the platform on which the Royal Commissioner 
who represents the sovereign has his seat, the floor, and the 
gallery. On the platform, which is at the end of the main 
body of the house, and is quite spacious, are seats behind 
and on either hand of the representative of the sovereign, to 
which he admits, by ticket, such ladies of quality as may 
seek admission. The floor is divided, first, into the space 
occupied in common by the members of the Assembly, by 
the professional advocates, and by the newspaper reporters, 
this space taking up about one-half the floor ; and, secondly, 
into the space behind this, appropriated to such clergymen 
as may be present who have not been elected to seats in the 
Assembly. With respect to this latter space, I need not 
add anything. But with respect to the former space, — ^that 



AND THE BRITISH ISLANDS. 245 

occupied by the members and the professional advocates, — 
I would observe that it is parted into three blocks of seats ; 
the seats in the two blocks along the walls being like long 
sofas running lengthwise, and the seats in the block between 
the two aisles resembling low-backed pews, and running 
crosswise. In the seats extending lengthwise, the silent 
members sit, while those members who have prepared them- 
selves to mingle in debate, and the advocates, as also the news- 
paper reporters, occupy the cross-seats. Having spoken of 
the Royal Commissioner's platform and of the floor, it now 
only remains that I say a word of the gallery. As to it, all 
that is peculiar is that it is partitioned into two compart- 
ments, one being allotted to students of theology, and the 
other to the accommodation of the general public. 

With respect to the meetings of the General Assembly of 
the Scottish Established Church, of which this hall is the 
scene, I would remark that they usually are held in May, 
and that the debates at these meetings are often distin- 
guished by ability as great as is exhibited in debates in 
Parliament. 

I will conclude this letter with notices of the house of 
Knox, the celebrated reformer, and of the far-known Grass- 
Market. 

Knox's house stands on the steep of the hill in Cannongate 
Street. About its external appearance there is not anything 
remarkable, except its antique look ; and, with respect to the 
point of antiquity, it cannot compare with some others, and 
especially witli a house farther down the street, said to be 
the oldest in the city; (as old as the year of our Lord 1124, 
this being the date inscribed on it;) one which the passing 
traveler may always easily recognize, by the deer's neck, and 
head with two antlers, which, along with the above date, it 
has marked on its wall, together with the inscription, "Veri- 
tas vincit." Yet, as Knox died in 1512, his dwelling must 
be very old. From a window in the second story, it having 
been taken out on such occasions, he used to preach to the 
people in the street; which window is still pretty much as it 
was when he spoke from it. Just below the house, and built 
into it, is a new church, called Knox's Church, raised to com- 
memorate the connection of the reformer with the locality. 
Yes, in that old house for many years lived, and in it died, 
perhaps the boldest man that the Pro'testant Reformation 

20* 



246 TRAVELS IN PRANCE 

called forth, the man upon whom the Earl of Morton, Re- 
gent of Scotland, truthfully pronounced, while standing over 
his freshly-made grave, the noble eulogium, " There lies he 
who never feared the face of man, who hath often been threat- 
ened with dag and dagger, but yet hath ended his days in 
peace and honor; for he had God's providence watching 
over him in an especial manner, when his life was sought." 

As to the Grass-Market, I spent there an hour or more, 
in the evening, a couple of days ago. Having gone a cer- 
tain distance up High Street, I turned to the left and thus 
came to the bridge that spans a deep, narrow hollow, — as if 
it were a river, — in which hollow is built the far-down Cow- 
gate Street ; and, having crossed this bridge, I found myself, 
in a few minutes, in the place for which I was seeking. The 
Grass-Market is a very wide and level, but not very long tho- 
roughfare, coarsely paved and built with substantial though 
somewhat rough-looking houses. It is, among other things, 
a horse-market ; and, when I was in it, it was occupied by a 
large assemblage of stout rustic-looking men, with a great 
gathering of horses ; and the examining of these animals, the 
trotting, the buying and selling, and the jockeying of them, 
seemed the sole employments. Yet there, — in the days of 
Scotland's terrible agony, when tyranny outraged civil and 
religious liberty alike, when, out of the small population then 
in the country, in the short period of twenty-seven years, 
twenty thousand persons were martyred, — no small number 
of the very best and noblest men belonging to this army of 
faithful witnesses, in behalf of what they believed right and 
truth, poured out their blood. On the precise spot where 
the place of execution formerly was, (at least ordinarily 
was,) in the centre of the street, a stone cross is placed in 
the pavement. 

I subscribe myself yours, &c., M. F. 



AND THE BRITISH ISLANDS. 24t 



NO. XXYII. 

Continuation of, Ac. — Halls of Paintings — Midsummer Night's Dream — Monuments — 
Calton Hill — Old London Road — Fine Prospect — Visit to Arthur's Seat — St. An- 
thony's Well and Chapel — View from Summit of, &c. — Prince Arthur — Excursion to 
Leith — Pier — Excursion to Stirling — Granton — Inverkeithing — Kirkcaldj^ — Alloa — 
Windings of the Forth — Stirling — Church — Castle — Its Antiquity — Prospect — Field 
of Cambuskenneth — Wallace — Bannockburn — Bruce — Departure from Stirling — 
■ The Eeligicus Services in Several Churches — Dr. Clark — Dr. McClure — Dr. Candlish 
— St. Giles's and Dr. McClatchie, &c. 

Edinburgh, July, 1855. 

I WISH you to regard this epistle simply as a continuation 
of my letter of the 13th inst. The fact is that it is just this 
with a variation of date, and with the addition to this letter 
of some things that had not come under my view when the let- 
ter spoken of was put into the post-office. Indeed, most of 
this sheet was filled immediately after the dating, (the last 
thing I often do to my letters,) of the epistle dispatched to 
you three days ago. I ought to mention that in neither letter 
have I paid much attention to th'e order of time, but, on the 
contrary, I have described from notes, such things as I have 
written about, in the order that was most convenient. I 
would add that, within limits which I did not feel at liberty 
to pass, this has been the case, less or more, in all that I 
have written to you since 1 left home. 

The Scottish capital has two noble marble edifices which 
contain exhibitions of paintings; one on Prince's Street, 
and the other close by it on what is called the Earthen 
Mound, at a brief distance in front from this street. It has 
so happened that the latter has been closed, for some reason 
or another, while I have been here ; but, in the former, I 
spent several hours very pleasantly. The paintings, though 
I do not pretend to be a connoisseur in such matters, I 
thought very excellent. One in particular amused me very 
much, showing a fertility of imagination, and a felicity of 
execution, not easily equaled. I refer to the Midsummer 
[Night's Dream. The imagination of the sleeper is sup- 
posed to be very active, and before it fairies in various 
assumed forms are busily engaged in all sorts of fun and 
grotesque antics. To give such variety at once to counte- 
nances and employments, and all in keeping with the main 



248 TRAVELS IN FRANCE 

design of the artist, required a most exuberant invention, an 
invention as rich and prolific as Shakspeare's. Also, — but 
I will not attempt to go into details in relation to things 
that I am so little skilled in as I am in paintings. Suffice 
it to say that no one visiting this city will regret time spent 
in looking around these edifices. 

The monuments here are also well worthy of the atten- 
tion of the stranger, this city being justly celebrated for the 
beauty and grandeur of erections of this class. While going 
around, I have viewed Sir Walter Scott's monument, Burns's, 
Playfair's, Dugald Stewart's, Lord Melville's, Nelson's, the 
national momument begun to commemorate the soldiers 
who fell at Waterloo, but, strange to say, left off unfinished, 
and that small but graceful one raised to the martyrs for 
political reform, who suffered in the agitations toward the 
close of the last century ; and, in addition to these monu- 
ments, I would mention the equestrian statue of the Duke of 
Wellington in the front of the edifice for the registration of 
the landed property of Scotland, and the colossal recumbent 
statue of Queen Victoria, which adorns that one of the two 
marble halls for the display of paintings, spoken of above as 
visited by me. Of these erections, though all would be 
worthy of a separate notice, I will only speak particularly 
of the monument raised by the City of Edinburgh in honor of 
Scott. This erection, as I believe I informed you in my pre- 
vious letter, stands near the hotel in which I am staying. It 
was designed and partly built by a young man, a journeyman 
mason, who, in competing for the work when proposals of 
plans were invited, easily carried away the palm from all 
others. Unfortunately he died before he had completed the 
work on which he had entered ; which completion was accom- 
plished four years ago. The structure stands in Prince's 
Street just where the finest entrance into Edinburgh becomes 
fully lost in the city itself; looking over on the nine and ten 
storied houses of High Street in the Old Town, and down on 
the railroad depots and ornamented grounds in the chasm 
that separates the Old and 'New Towns. Though it is ex- 
tremely graceful, being exquisite in its proportions, it struck 
me, on first sight, that, for the sharp and corroding climate 
of Scotland, its architecture is, in some respects, too deli- 
cate and elaborate, and its ornaments superabundant. Yet, 
on a closer examination, it comes to appear massy and 



AND THE BRITISH ISLANDS. 249 

strong. Its style is Gothic ; the groined arches, and taper- 
ing points or little spires, of this style being the things 
which first attract the spectator's attention. It contains 
several fine statues. In its main hall is one, in marble, of 
Scott himself, with his dog by his side. Of the other 
statues. I will particularize that of the Last Minstrel play- 
ing on his harp, as described in "The Lay of the Last Min- 
strel ;" that of the stalwart gipsy of the elf-locks, Meg Mer- 
rilies, one of the characters in '' Guy Mannering ;'' and 
especially that of the awkward probationer-pedagogue, Do- 
minie Sampson, who is also portrayed so strikingly in "Guy 
Mannering ;*' — these statues being cut in red sandstone. 
I will only add that the unique monument which I have been 
describing, (unique, I say, for I have never seen anything 
like it.) is ascended to the top by no less than between two 
hundred and eighty and two hundred and ninety steps, and 
that the prospect from this point well rewards the labor of 
ascension. 

Let me now ask you to go with me to Calton Hill, which 
elevated locality has been with me a favorite place of resort 
since I came hither. This hill is situated on the northeast 
of the city. Around its southern edge winds the grandest 
highway by which the town is entered, the highway by which 
persons journey traveling, otherwise than by railroad, to or 
from London. Around its northern edge lies a very small 
portion of the Xew Town of Edinburgh, beyond which lies 
Leith at a brief distance. "When one has made his way up 
the steep ascent by which the eminence is reached, he has the 
finest conceivable prospect spread out before him. On one 
side are the town, the Castle, and Arthur's Seat; on another 
are Leith, the Frith of Forth, (on which Roman fleets in 
far-off years plied,) the shores of the Fife, and the Xorth 
Sea; and on other sides the fertile and highly cultivated 
plains of the Lothians, with high mountains in the vague 
distance. After enjoying the noble prospect for some time, 
I walked around the various monuments with which it is 
crowned. There stands the national monument whose ob- 
ject has already been referred to; (an unfinished Grecian 
temple modeled after the design of the Parthenon at 
Athens;) there stand Lord Melville's of one hundred and 
thirty-nine feet in height. Lord Xelsou's of one hundred 
and eight feet in height, Dugald Stewart's, and Burns's, — 



250 TRAVELS IN FRANCE 

all before spoken of. I then entered a small enclosed area 
where, for a small fee, are shown some pieces of good statuary. 
I have also visited Arthur's Seat, to the east or rather 
E.S.E. of the city. Going down Cannongate Street, past 
Holyrood, and over a part of the King's Park, (a large, 
level, and somewhat ornamented space of land,) I found 
myself, after a little, close to certain precipitous rocky emi- 
nences called the Salisbury Crags. Ascending among these 
by a winding path, I reached a beautiful little well from 
which a cup of water was given me by a small girl. From 
this well, which is called St. Anthony's Well, did many a 
religious devotee, long since mouldered to dust, drink ; and 
not only such devotees, but kings, queens, nobles, and 
courtiers, in the days of Scotia's independent royalty. No 
doubt, from it drew water, and quenched their thirst, the 
royal personages whose few bones and lack-lustre skulls now 
rest in the royal vault of the palace hard-by, and the noble 
ones over whose graves the passing stranger treads as he 
carelessly walks around that palace's desolate old chapel. To 
the left hand of this well, as one ascends, stands, in total 
desolation, a good part of the walls of an old church of 
restricted dimensions. This ruin was once St. Anthony's 
Chapel. The day was bright, beautiful, and quite warm, so 
that I was tempted, and to the temptation I yielded, to 
spend here some time ; sometimes resting on the greensward 
thinly adorned with litttle mountain-flowers, and sometimes 
slowly wandering around the neighboring crags. Fairly 
may I apply to myself the language of one of Scotland's 
most eminent poets, in relation to the same vicinity, who 
says,— 

"Lone did I wander by each cliff and dell, 

Once the loved haunts of Scotia's royal train; 
Or mused where limpid streams, once hallowed well, 
Or mouldering ruins, mark the sacred fane." 

From the neighborhood of St. Anthony's Well and Chapel, 
the progress to the summit of the mountain is, for one who 
climbs the steep on a hot day, long and circuitous. But, 
withal, the green, short verdure, the sparse but beautiful 
little mountain-flowers, and the ever-shifting variety of the 
scenery, easily beguile the time, and, when the top has been 
reached, the noble view well repays the labor that has been 



A^B THE BRITISH ISLANDS. 251 

undergone. From the crest of the mountain, — which is 
nearly seven hundred feet above its base, and, according to 
measurement, eight hundred and twenty-two feet above the 
sea, — the prospect is as grand as any other in the world. 
There I had pointed out to me, by an old man, the things 
most worthy of the notice of a stranger ; and the clearness 
of the day favored me in getting a good view. Indeed, I 
was told that a day so clear seldom occurs. At my feet, in 
one direction, was to be seen the locality where, beside a 
solitary mass of granite by the wayside, James IV. is said 
to have planted the lion-standard of Scotland for the muster 
of his army immediately before its fatal march to Elodden ; 
while in the opposite direction, still nearer and more directly 
beneath me, lay the Hunter's Bog, a deep and sheltered val- 
ley between Arthur's Seat and the Salisbury Crags, a place 
whose recesses had often resounded with the hunting horns 
of the old kings, and in which Prince Charles, in lt45, when 
about to enter Edinburgh, left his Highland host for a time, 
. — himself, with the Duke of Perth and Lord Elcho, descend- 
ing to Holyrood. Then, raising my eyes and looking afar- 
ofif, was spread around me, on one hand, no inconsiderable 
portion of the best cultivated parts of Scotland, filled with 
farmhouses and cottages, and besprinkled with the planta- 
tions and mansions of the wealthy and titled; and, in the 
midst of this fine territory, was pointed out the still distin- 
guishable site of a Roman encampment made when the old 
masters of the world embraced Southern Caledonia in their 
empire. Then, having turned a little round and strained my 
eyes so as to look very far northward, I saw quite plainly the 
Ochills, East Lomond, and the dim form of the far-off Grram- 
pians, these last the mountain barrier which constituted the ex- 
treme northern limit to which the eagles of invincible Eome 
ever reached. Next, looking northeastward, I saw the High- 
lands that encircle the lakes, and the peaks of Ben Nevis and 
of Benvenue. Again, having looked toward the south, the 
Lammermuir Hills and the Pentland Hills, with the town of 
Dalkeith and with Craig Millar Castle, were visible. While, 
in another direction yet, the northeast and east, spread be- 
neath me were Edinburgh and Leith, and, beyond these, the 
blue waters of the Forth, with the battle-fields of Preston- 
pans and Dunbar, lying contiguous to the waters of said 
Forth. And, having looked still farther off, in the same 



252 TRAVELS IN FRANCE 

direction, I could see the North Sea, that tempestuous ex- 
panse of water that rolls between the mouth of the Forth and 
the opposite entrance of the Baltic ; the sea that bore the 
ships of Hengist and Horsa, with their Anglo-Saxons, when 
voyaging to England, over which Rollo sailed, with his 
Norsemen, when on his way to conquer for himself a home 
in Normandy, and which, also, stepping over a long interval, 
was plowed, in the last generation, by the fleet of Nelson, 
going to Copenhagen. To describe, even in simple terms, 
such views, seems almost to be talking magniloquently. 
Having satiated my curiosity, I commenced the descent, 
meeting, on my way down, great numbers of both sexes and 
of dll ages journeying for the top. On my downward course 
often did I sit or lie down among the short heath and grass, 
and, while gazing around, fill my hands with a variety of 
slender-stemmed and modest upland flowers, such as. In the 
British Islands, adorn the sides of the mountains ; flowers 
hardy, and of lowly, unassuming guise, and familiar from 
their birth with the bitter, biting blasts that in this climate, 
even in the more genial half of the .year, often career over 
the uplands and hills. While thus engaged, I could not 
help reverting to the rides that I have frequently taken, 
at the same season, over the Alleghanies ; contrasting the 
thick woods, and flaunting flowers, (especially innumerable 
orange-lilies,) that in some places profusely cover them, 
with the short heath, and flowers scarcely peeping above 
their mother earth, spread around my seat or my couch. 
And, here, I ought not to omit the mention of a small lake 
that lies not far from the base of that side of Arthur's Seat 
away from the city. This pool contributes much to the 
beauty of the landscape. I will only further add, in rela- 
tion to Arthur's Seat or my excursion to it, that it is so 
named, it is affirmed, from the celebrated old British hero, 
(of the sixth century,) Arthur, originally prince of a power- 
ful British tribe to the north of the Severn, (named the 
Silures,) and subsequently commander-in-chief of all the 
Britons. He, we are told, in his wars with the Saxons, 
gave those invaders hard-by a severe defeat, and that, while 
here on this military enterprise, he ascended to the summit 
of this high hill, and from it took a view of the surrounding 
country. To commemorate the locality of the defeat spoken 
of, and the presence, on the summit of the mountain, of their 



AND THE BRITISH ISLANDS. 253 

favorite leader, the old Britisli of the Lotliians gave the 
name. 

Next, I will ask you to accompany me on an excursion to 
Leith, the seaport of Edinburgh. Indeed, that town, though 
anciently, and still municipally, distinct from Edinburgh, is 
now in fact incorporated with it, the two being built so as to 
interlock. Entering an omnibus near my hotel, I was soon 
carried, along the continuously built road called the Leith 
Walk, into the very heart of Leith. It is a place of great 
business for its size, the population being about thirty 
thousand. The town is mostly well built, and some of its 
churches have a very handsome appearance. Among the 
things about it that most interested me were the docks, two 
wet, and three dry ; all very spacious, especially the former, 
which have connected with them a basin of ten acres in ex- 
tent. Also, I viewed with interest the large levels extend- 
ing on either side of the town. I also looked with much 
attention at the stone-pier, an exceedingly noble erection. 
This pier extends, with a graceful bend, far out into the deep 
waters of the Forth, meeting and breaking its surges as they 
roll in. It is, however, hard to be kept in repair on account 
of the water making its way through the narrow crevices 
between the massive cut-stones that constitute its sides, and, 
in this manner, sapping from beneath them their clayey sup- 
port. Indeed, while I was on the mole, men were employed 
in raising, by means of machinery, these heavy masses of 
rock for the repair of damages ; and the facility with which 
they were raised and replaced was truly admirable. While 
walking to and fro in this place, I had for a moment under 
consideration the going on a tour, on a small scale, in the 
Highlands. Falling into the company of a gentleman who 
was about to go on such a tour, I had almost made up my 
mind to consent to go along with him, but remembering how 
much of my life has been spent among mountains nearly or 
altogether as grand as any in the Highlands, and feeling 
that such a tour would protract my stay in Scotland beyond 
a mere visit to it, which was all I intended in coming hither, 
I concluded to deny myself the pleasure of such a journey. 
Having spent some part of a day in sauntering about the 
town, and in looking at the battery out in the water beyond 
the pier, and at other things, I concluded to return to my 
hotel in Edinburgh. 

21 



254 TRAVELS IN FRANCE 

While here I have been on an excursion of much more 
interest than that to Leith, having been lately on to the 
ancient Borough of Stirling. This place, which contains a 
population of about twelve thousand, stands on the River 
Forth about thirty miles W.N.W. of this city. Entering, 
very early in the morning, the railroad cars which run to 
Granton, — a steamboat harbor on the Forth a short distance 
above Leith, and which is distant about three miles from 
Edinburgh, — I soon found myself on the shore of the noble 
arm of the sea on which I was seeking to embark. At 
Granton I stopped but a brief time. Indeed, it is not a town 
but a mere harbor, brought into importance by sandstone 
quarries in the neighborhood, and especially, by the sailing 
to and from it of the London steam packets. Sailing, on a 
pleasure excursion, from this place, (with a party, all of it 
being made up of persons traveling for recreation and en- 
joyment,) we passed over to ^he very ancient Inverkeithing 
in Fife, a beautiful county, and inhabited by a noble race of 
men ; yet, such is the effect of old associations that, remem- 
bering the boast of the Highlanders, — after their defeat of 
the Fifeshire men at Kilsythe, in 1645, — that every stroke of 
their broadswords had cut an ell of breeks, I could scarcely 
help particularly inspecting the legs of the passengers com- 
ing aboard to see whether their pantaloons were not, in our 
day as of old, wider than other people's. We then steamed 
down to Kirkcaldy, the birth-place of Adam Smith. We next 
made our way to Queensferry, and so, passing on, reached 
Alloa, (with a population of between six and seven thou- 
sand,) at the head of the Frith and about twenty-five miles 
from Edinburgh. Here we came into the River Forth, a 
river of whose tortuousness you may judge when I tell you 
that in a course of twenty-six miles it only makes an advance 
of eight or nine in a straight line. These windings are 
called the links of the Forth, and are greatly celebrated for 
their quiet beauty. And they deserve to be as highly ap- 
plauded for their fertility and rith pasturage as for their 
beauty; affording an uninterrupted succession of as fine 
farms as are to be met with anywhere on earth. About a 
mile or a mile and a half below Stirling the passengers were 
passed into a couple of large boats partly propelled by oars 
and partly pulled by horses. 

The first place to which I wended my way, on setting foot 



AND THE BRITISH ISLANDS. 255 

on the bank of the river, was the Castle. The town stands 
on the southeast declivity of a steep hill, and on the summit 
of this htll is situated the edifice referred to. I made my 
way to it by the main street which goes directly up to it; a 
street roughly paved, of abrupt ascent, and wearing the 
aspect of the hand of modern improvement operating on a 
long gone-by antiquity. Before reaching the Castle, how- 
ever, I fell in with a faneral, at which there were several 
clergymen present, and, following it, soon found myself in a 
graveyard. Without any ceremony whatever, the corpse 
was entombed; and then, finding the doors of the church, 
which is close by the graveyard, open, — that church in which 
James YI. was crowned, John Knox preaching his corona- 
tion sermon, — I directed my steps toward it. This edifice, 
which is divided into two parts, was originally the property 
of one of the orders of the Romish Church, but, at the Refor- 
mation, was converted into a Protestant place of worship; 
and the old Grothic ornaments, by which it is distinguished, 
do not fail still to indicate the purpose for which it was origi- 
nally designed. Just above this ancient building stands the 
Castle, the object in quest of which I had set out when leav- 
ing the landing at the river. I therefore now ascended to it at 
once. This stronghold is very ancient, so that on its origin 
neither history nor tradition sheds any light: it is so old, in- 
deed, that old records affirm that Arthur, that hero of the Old 
British, already spoken of in this letter, who died in 542, 
made it, on a certain occasion, the scene of the celebrated 
festivities of the Round Table. It stands on the very edge 
of the high hill on which, I have told you, Stirling is built. 
The interior I found occupied as barracks by soldiers; some 
of them Highlanders, but most of them aliens to the tartan. 
I was struck, on looking around, with the attention to neat- 
ness which was everywhere manifest. Wherever, within the 
walls, there was a spot of ground that could be ornamented 
with flowers, it was carefully set out with the most beautiful 
of these after the manner of the pleasaunces that, in the 
middle ages, adorned the castled homes of the feudal barons. 
The flower-plots, in truth, now kept up there, date back, no 
doubt, to the earliest period of Scottish history when feudal 
usages prevailed everywhere throughout the Lowlands. 
Such things, in contrast with the frowning pieces of artillery 
around the bastions, look doubly beautiful. On one side, the 



256 TRAVELS IN TRANCE 

one away from the town, and which is almost perpendicular, 
T looked down on the windings of the Forth, as they water, 
as far as eye can reach, one of the most beautiful valleys 
that man can look upon. From the other side is visible the 
field of Bannockburn. And this leads me to remark that, 
from this Castle, no less than twelve battle-fields, on which 
great battles were fought, can be reckoned up. Also, from 
it one has a much more distinct view of the Grampians, and 
some other high mountains of Scotland, than he can obtain 
even from Arthur's Seat on the most unclouded day. In 
addition to what I have said, I would add that interest 
attaches to this edifice from the facts that once it was a 
residence of James Y., who dwelt in a palace within its walls, 
(which palace still stands, being used for barracks,) and that 
there once parliaments assembled, — the old Parliament House 
being also occupied as barracks. Besides, in it, for a while, 
the ill-starred Queen of Scots had her residence. 

I now left the Castle to pass over, as rapidly as possible, 
such other things as I desired to inspect. 

Let me lead you to a valley lying to the northwest of the 
borough, where are situated the remains of Cambusken- 
neth Abbey. In this valley, and at the wooden bridge 
which here, at one mile above the present bridge, once 
spanned the Forth, was fought, in 129T, the battle of Cam- 
buskenneth, so famous in the annals of Scottish patriotism. 
In this engagement Sir William Wallace, at the head of a 
vastly inferior force, totally defeated the English forces op- 
posed to him, — forty thousand men either in the field, or 
within striking distance, — under Earl Warenne, the English 
Governor of Scotland ; compelling them to fly, with great 
slaughter, to England. The story is still told there, how 
Wallace, knowing that the river was unfordable, on account 
of a flood, had the bridge set on fire when one-half of the 
hostile army was over, and while a part of the remaining 
half was eagerly crowding to follow across, and how, in these 
circumstances, he succeeded in driving thousands of the 
mailed throng wildly to precipitate themselves into the roar- 
ing stream. This great victory allowed Scotland to breathe 
freely for a few months; but, in the summer of the very 
next year, 1298, the Scotch in their turn, under Cumyn, (the 
Grand Steward of the realm,) and Sir William Wallace, were 
totally defeated by Edward I. of England, at Falkirk, about 



AND THE BRITISH ISLANDS. 251 

ten miles E.S.E. of Stirling. On this result turning up, 
Wallace retreated to the vicinity of his former field of vic- 
tory; burning the town, before abandoning it, for the same 
reasons that the Russians burned Moscow. Ground sancti- 
fied by the great Scottish patriot, and hero's great victory, 
and subsequently by the desperate resolution of his retreat, 
is holy ground. 

Let me now invite you to come with me again to the 
town ; and, having passed through it to its southern edge, 
let us walk out into the country about two miles and a half, 
where we will find soil that, like the field of Cambusken- 
neth, has been also watered by the blood of patriots in the 
olden time. I speak of the field of Bannockburn, on which, 
in June, 1314, eleven years after the execution of Wallace, 
Robert Bruce defeated Edward 11. of England. However, 
in connection with this memorable battle-field, all is now 
changed. The little stream of the Bannock flows through- 
quiet grain-fields. The morass, which once proved so fatal 
to the English cavalry, has been turned into verdant meadow. 
Not even a mound, such as still marks, on the plains of Troy, 
where, with his companions, the bravest of the Greeks sleeps, 
yea, more, not even the vestige of a soldier's grave, distin- 
guishes the spot where the dead, English, Welsh, and Irish, 
on the one side, and Scotch, on the other, were heaped into 
their deep-dug bloody resting-places. And, where brave 
knights, at the head of iron-clad followers, engaged in deadly 
melee, are to be met, at the present time, only the woolen 
weavers of Bannockburn village. But, changed though the 
aspect of the landscape may be, historical assocfations gather 
around it, which all lovers of freedom will cherish till time 
shall end. On this ground, thirty thousand Scotchmen, in 
defence of their nationality, which was about being violently, 
and therefore wrongfully, wrested from them, defeated nearly 
one hundred thousand English, with the loss on the side of 
the victors, it is said, of only four thousand men, while the 
enemy lost fifty thousand. The Scottish leader having the 
choice of the ground, disposed his soldiers so that they 
might be protected by the morass already alluded to, and 
somewhat by the hollow of the Bannock ; and then, where 
at any other point the heavy mass of English cavalry might 
find ground suitable for charging, he dug deep and wide pits 
having their mouths overlaid, and thus masked, with turf 

21* 



258 TRAVELS IN FRANCE 

supported by brushwood. Near by where his army was 
drawn up is Gillies Hill, a considerable elevation, and aback 
of it he put the women and camp-followers. The Scotch, 
before engaging, went, in the exercise of devotion, to their 
knees, and, while they were thus employed, the English 
archers began the battle ; but they were soon ridden down 
by Bruce's cavalry. Upon this, Edward^s thirty thousand 
horse galloped, in heavy masses, upon their formidable 
enemy. But, instead of charging on their foe, and over- 
whelming them with the dreadful shock, these galloped on 
each other into the morass and the pitfalls, so that broken 
ranks and the most dreadful disorder ensued. Next, the in- 
fantry of King Edward advanced, but, Bruce's men meeting 
them, sword to sword, and pike to pike, they were unable 
to make any impression. Disheartened, in confusion, and 
at disadvantage, the English still continued to fight with 
that obstinate valor which has always characterized them, 
when the traitor who, for gold, had sold Wallace, being in 
the train of the English king, fell, (or some one who was 
mistaken for him,) and the news that the hated arch-betrayer 
was dead, being circulated along the lines of Bruce's army, 
a shout of triumph, as the report spread, was raised, grow- 
ing louder and louder, as more had the information commu- 
nicated to them, till, at length, the welkin was ringing with 
simultaneous outcries of mingled revenge and exultation 
from nearly thirty thousand throats. The women, and fol- 
lowers of the army, hearing, from behind the hill, these long- 
continued exultant clamors, — which they interpreted as the 
expressions, on the part of their countrymen, of victory, — 
fastening handkerchiefs and petticoats on poles, rushed, with 
responding vociferations of joy, to and over the summit be- 
hind which they had been concealed. The English forces, 
already severely handled, conceiving this to be a second 
army that was approaching, and concluding that its arrival 
on the field was what had led to the jubilant shouts on the 
part of the Scotch soldiers, which shouts had not yet ceased, 
immediately paused in their onsets, then gave back, and, in 
a brief time, fell into irremediable confusion. Such, in con- 
nection with ail inspection of the field, was the account that 
I gathered up of this bloody battle ; the greatest, most san- 
guinary, and most decisive which had been fought, in any 
part of the world, for ages. And perhaps this account, 



AND THE BRITISH ISLANDS. 259 

which suits well to the ground and to the circumstances of 
the transaction, may be as nearly correct as if I had bor- 
rowed it from the written pages of the past. 

After viewing the battle-field of Bannockburn, I made my 
way to the depot of the railroad connecting Stirling with 
Edinburgh, and was soon leaving behind me the former city, 
the scene and centre of so many memorable transactions in 
the story of the Scotland of by-gone days ; the place where 
Earl Douglas was murdered by James II.; where the Earl 
of Lennox with his sons, and with his son-in-law, Murdoch, 
Duke of Albany, was beheaded in 1424; where James Y., 
as noticed above, resided; where Mary Queen of Scots was 
crowned, and for a time resided ; where James VI. (after- 
wards James I. of England) was baptized and crowned; 
where Archbishop Hamilton was hung on a scaffold in 
canonicals ; and where John Knox preached ; — not stop- 
ping to mention circumstantially again that near to it Wal- 
lace and Bruce triumphed ; — I say, soon was I leaving be- 
hind me the ancient Borough of Stirling, whose history is 
associated with so many old chronicled events, and on my 
way for my hotel in Edinburgh. And, after a journey 
through a pleasant and interesting country, (in which is 
situated Ealkirk, famous for its two great battles,; I was, 
before it was quite dark, again in that hotel. 

I will conclude this letter with some account of the man- 
ner in which, while here, I have spent my Sabbaths. 

On the first Sabbath of my being in this city I went to the 
church in which the celebrated Free Church minister. Dr. 
Candlish, preaches, a church lying toward the west end of 
Prince's Street. The edifice is neat, though small for a 
place with a population so large as Edinburgh contains ; 
being not near so large as most of the churches in Philadel- 
phia or new York. The congregation, however, which has 
a most respectable appearance, was as large as could be ad- 
mitted within the walls. The pastor being absent at the 
Irish General Assembly, the pulpit was occupied by a young 
man, who delivered, (without reading,) in a plain way, and 
without any oratorical display, a very sensible and excellent 
discourse, mainly addressed to the impenitent portion of the 
congregation. In the afternoon I attended worship in the 
Assembly Hall belonging to the Established Church. Here 
preached Dr. Clark, of St. Andrew's, who gave us, from a 
manuscript, an able discourse, and, in my judgment, one 



260 TRAVELS IN FRANCE 

well adapted to be useful. Subsequent to my attendance in 
these places of worship, I went in the evening to hear Dr. 
McCrie, — son to the biographer of John Knox, — who 
preached in a low, irregular wooden building, but of very- 
great capaciousness, lying in the suburbs on the road that 
leads out to Granton. The doctor is in the prime of life 
and quite corpulent. He has a good voice and speaks well. 
He read us, (I ought to observe that he reads with very 
little restriction of the eye to the paper,) a very carefully 
prepared discourse on the criminality and evils of religious 
persecution ; which discourse was peculiarly well suited to 
arouse the sensibilities of a Protestant community. 

On yesterday, — my second Sabbath in Edinburgh, — I 
went again, in the morning, to Dr. Candlish's Church, with 
the view to hear him, having understood that he had re- 
turned from Dublin. He gave us, from manuscript, a ser- 
mon at once well composed and rich in evangelical truth. 
Yet, though a good speaker, and capable of keeping up an 
unremitted attention on the part of his auditors, he has no 
pretensions whatever to be considered an orator. In the 
afternoon, I worshiped in Parliament Square, in what is 
called the High Church, or St. Giles's, the most ancient 
church in the city ; said, indeed, to have been founded as 
early as 900, and which was erected into a collegiate church 
as early as 1466. The edifice, which is built after the cathe- 
dral style, is in the figure of a cross, and from its centre rises 
a square tower surmounted by slender arches and support- 
ing a lofty spire, this tower being in the form of an imperial 
crown. Internally. St. Giles's is now divided, — though this 
was not the case at the Reformation, — into three compart- 
ments, each of which is used as a place of worship by a dis- 
tinct congregation. I may here remark that it was in this 
church that John Knox, in his day, thundered forth the 
grand truths of Protestant Christianity ; it was in it that the 
Protestant nobility, in 1560, returned thanks for the retire- 
ment of the French ; and it was in it, (in what is now the 
southern compartment,) that, when the Earl of Murray, the 
good regent, had been assassinated, his funeral was held, 
Knox preaching on the occasion. I attended worship in 
the main compartment. The first thing that struck me on 
sitting down, was the inconvenience of the high-backed pews, 
in which the sitter is fairly hidden from view; pews bearing 



AND THE BRITISH ISLANDS. 261 

some resemblance to those cities of the children of the Ana- 
kims, of which Holy Writ tells us, — cities "great and fenced 
up to heaven." Then Hooked back to the part of the gallery 
where in most city churches the organ and choir are placed ; 
and, instead of thes^, was to be seen a large pew which is, no 
doubt, intended to be the seat of dignity. Knox was accus- 
tomed to call the organ "a kist o' whistles," and, of course, 
using it in divine worship was, in his view, whistling the 
praises of God. Either respect for the opinions of the old 
reformer in the congregation to which he preached, or a par- 
ticipation in his opinions on the part of its present members, 
has, up to the present time, continued to exclude from this 
church all instrumental accompaniment ; which, however, 
is not anything more than is the state of matters, as it re- 
spects this point, in European Presbyterian churches gene- 
rally. Soon the minister, Dr. McClatchie, in his black silk 
Geneva gown, came forth from his closet behind the pulpit, 
and took his seat. Both his addresses to the Throne of 
Grace, and the sermon that he delivered, were beautiful, 
appropriate, and impressive. He is certainly not unworthy, 
whether as it respects literary taste or eloquence, to speak 
from the spot that was once occupied by Dr. Blair, while his 
sermon contained a vast deal more Bible theology, and was 
characterized by a great deal more onction than was ordi- 
narily the case with the sermons of that eminent preacher. 
Subsequently, toward the evening, — for the third time, — I 
attended divine service in one of the churches of the xsTew 
Town, where a young man, a licentiate of the Established 
Church, preached. And I must say that I thought his ser- 
mon very excellent and well delivered, though, I was told, he 
had been presented by a patron to a charge, but on account 
of unacceptableness, had found it necessary to decline the 
offer. 

I will conclude this letter by stating that to-morrow morn- 
ing. Providence aiding, I purpose to start for Glasgow, and 
that thence, with but little delay, I will set out for the North 
of Ireland. 

I subscribe myself, &c., M. F. 

P. S. — There are two things that I would make some 
reference to before folding up these sheets. 

While looking around from the top of the Castle of Stir- 
ling, a man came to me, introducing himself, and began to 



262 TRAVELS IN FRANCE 

ask some questions in relation to family connections that he 
had, he said, in the State of New York. From the direction 
that he soon gave to his inquiries, and from the sort of 
^ questions that he put, I could not help the coming to the 
insulting conclusion that some one had furnished the intelli- 
gence to some one connected with the British government 
that I had been along the Canadian frontier during the civil 
commotions in Canada, and there rendered such services as 
men are usually paid for. The same thing was done at Bou- 
logne, in a hotel of that town, kept by an American born 
in the northeast part of the State of New York, whose 
father had passed over to the County of Kent in England, 
some time after the close of the American Revolution ; and 
this, to aggravate the thing, in such a connection with 
another occurrence as was adapted to make the thing pecu- 
liarly annoying. I would remark that I neglected to, make 
sure whether the person with whom I had this conversation 
was the keeper of the house, though my impression was that 
he was. The same thing occurred in a boat on the Thames, 
when in London. Then again, a conversation, in which the 
same thing was indistinctly implied, was had with a gentle- 
man at Bangor. The fact is the thing has followed me in 
France, England, Wales, and Scotland, and thus everywhere 
except Ireland. Of course there was no use in appearing 
angry ; and, in the circumstances, all I could do was to tell 
the various persons with whom I had the conversations re- 
ferred to, (and this I did as meekly as possible,) that I had 
never been in any part of the State of New York except the 
city and its immediate vicinity, that I did not think 1 had 
ever been within one hundred and fifty miles of the Canadian 
line, and that during the civil commotions in British Ame- 
rica I had been all the time attending to my duties in the 
place where I still had my home. Indeed, I found that a 
forged receipt would be all that would be needful to make 
out a very ugly-looking case. I might say a great deal more 
as to this matter, but choose to keep silence for the present. 
Again, I ought not to pass by the mentioning that while 
here, I went about ten miles out from Edinburgh on the 
Edinburgh and Berwick Railroad, spending a good part of 
a day among the farms of that particular district of Edin- 
burghshire. But, as I purpose to say something at some 
future time, with respect to Scottish agriculture, I refrain 
from going in this place into details. 



AND THE BRITISH ISLANDS. 263 



NO. XXVIII. 

Departure from Edinbvirgh — Railroads and Country Between Edinburgh and Glas- 
gow — Glasgow — Clyde — Streets, &c. — Monuments — Noble Cathedral — The Univer- 
sity — Its Miiseum — Ex-President Fillmore — Annals of the City — Departure for Ire- 
land — Dunglass and Dumb<xrton Castles — The River Laggan— BL-lfast — Excursion to 
Carrickfergus — Its Castle — Annals of the Town — Ancient Earls of Ulster — Sieiies — 
Else of Irish Presbyterianism — ^Return to Belfast — Antrim — One of the Mysterious 
Round Towers — Castles — John Howe and Gowan — Battle of Antrim — Ballymena — • 
Ecclesiastical Meeting and Draiioons — Traveling Companion — Lough Neagh — Niglit 
iu Toome Bridge Village — Mud-Houses — Aspect of Country — Maghera — Round Tow- 
ers — Aspect of Country — Carntogher Mountains— Dungiven — Aspect of Country — 
Foughan Vale — Derry. 

Londonderry, July, 1855. 

I LAST wrote to you from Edinburgh, concluding and send- 
ing off my letter on the morning of the 16th of July. In 
that letter I stated that I intended to begin my journey for 
the North of Ireland on the next day, but, having subse- 
quently changed my mind, I started that very evening and 
reached Glasgow just before dark. Making my way from 
the railroad station to the street along the Clyde called the 
Broomielaw, I again, as in Edinburgh, put up in a hotel, 
purporting, from its sign, to be a temperance hotel. I fear, 
however, that instead of a temperance house, I happened, 
this time, into a mere illicit whisky-house of the better 
class. At least, under this impression, I sought other lodg- 
ings the next day. 

I ought to say something as to the country through which 
the railroad, by which I traveled from Edinburgh, passes. 
And as there are two railroads between the cities of Edin- 
burgh and Glasgow, and as I have now traveled over both, — 
having gone on by one, and come back by the other, — perhaps 
it may not be amiss if, taking them in conjunction, I speak of 
the character of the districts of country through which both of 
thein have been carried. The more southern road by which 
I journeyed, (beginning my view at Glasgow,) traverses the 
County of Lanark, and, entering that of Edinburgh or Mid 
Lothian, thus reaches the City of Edinburgh. The other 
ro'ad by which I journeyed pursues a more northern course, 
and, (making Glasgow again the starting-point of my view,) 
after traversing the northern part of Lanarkshire and the 
southern part of the County of Stirling, enters the Shire of 



264 TRAVELS IN FRANCE 

Linlithgow or West Lothian, and then Edinburghshire, and 
thus reaches the City of Edinburgh. The shorter of the 
two ways is about, according to the best information I could 
obtain, forty-seven miles or a little more, while the other is 
considerably longer. One of the roads extends through a 
country much more of an upland aspect than the other, 
passing through a long distance of reclaimed bog and moor, 
by a little mountain lake, and through numerous farms that 
plainly partake of the character of moorland farms. The 
country, through which the other railway passes, is by no 
means of an upland appearance, but a portion of it is made 
up of land thin and hilly. Along both, the intelligence, in- 
dustry, perseverance, and skill, of the Scottish husbandman 
are strikingly displayed. As I passed over these roads, I 
observed a number of about the largest thistles that I have 
ever seen, and, when looking at these growing by the way- 
side, I almost concluded, — their growth, in some instances, 
was so luxuriant beyond anything I had ever seen elsewhere,' 
whether in Scotland or the United States, — that they were 
manured and cultivated as the shadowings forth of the 
Scotch nation's motto, " Nemo me impune lacessit." And, 
when admiring the rich, spontaneous vegetation of the 
thistle, I could not, of course, overlook a thing vastly more 
worthy of notice, the taste exhibited in the cultivation of 
plots of flowers close by the various platforms at which the 
trains stop for the reception and disembarking of passengers. 
In England something of this is to be seen along railroads, 
in Ireland very little, in the United States scarcely anything 
at all, and in Scotland a good deal ; while in France a great 
amount of attention is bestowed upon it, so far as I had an 
opportunity of observing the state of matters in that coun- 
try. So much as to the general aspect of things along the 
railroads connecting the two chief cities of North Britain. 

In Glasgow 1 stopped three days, and then sailed for 
Belfast. You are aware that the City of Grlasgow is one of 
the most industrious in the world, that it has the reputation 
of being much more so than Edinburgh. Of its wonderful 
industry there can be no doubt, since this is the foundatio.n 
of its extraordinary prosperity. But certainly Edinburgh is 
also characterized by a population of untiring application to 
the various pursuits in which it is engaged. Perhaps the 
women of Edinburgh even surpass those of their sister city 



AND THE BRITISH ISLANDS. 265 

in this thing. Assuredly, I have not seen women anywhere 
else in the British Islands, nor have I seen them anywhere 
in the United States, so untiringly industrious as I observed 
frequently to be the case in the capital of Scotland. The 
women, and young girls, attending in the various sorts of 
stores in which such persons wait on customers, I have found, 
in the intervals between the various calls for their services, 
engaged busily in needle-work, or in some other branch of 
feminine labor. Nowhere else have I observed this to be the 
case so untiringly, and at the same time so generally, except 
perhaps in Paris, where the same habit extensively prevails. 
When a stranger begins to perambulate the streets of 
Glasgow, the first striking object that forces itself upon his 
notice is the river. This stream is narrow, but yet, at the 
lower part of the town, quite deep. Like the Liffey, in 
Dublin, it is cased with stone along its banks. And over it 
are three excellent stone bridges and one of wood. Along 
the northern bank, the city proper is built, on a plain 
which rises from it with a gentle acclivity. On the southern 
bank is a fine suburb, which may be properly regarded as a 
part of the city. Along the stream runs a street open 
toward the water, named the Broomielaw. And, away back 
from the river, run, parallel to it, three remarkably fine 
streets, Argyle Street, Trongate Street, and Gallowgate 
Street. Also, in connection with these noble streets, I 
would refer to St. George's Square, and several other 
squares, and particularly the Green, (a large and mag- 
nilicent enclosure so arranged that it affords to persons in 
carriages a drive of twelve miles in extent.) As the stran- 
ger listlessly saunters around the streets of the city, he is 
brought into contact with several monuments. Thus there 
is the monument to Sir Walter Scott in St. George's Square, 
a fluted Doric column of eighty feet in height. Then there 
is a pedestrian statue to Watt, the inventor of the steam- 
engine; and also there is a pillar, surmounted by a statue, 
raised in honor of Sir John Moore, a native of Glasgow, 
who fell at Corunna, (in Spain,) in the January of 1809. 
Next, there is a bronze equestrian statue to the Duke of Wel- 
lington, in front of the splendid colonnade of the Exchange. 
Again, there is an equestrian statue to William III., in the 
Irongate, at the Market Cross. Again, there are equestrian 
statues to Charles II. and Queen Victoria, sovereigns so 

22 



266 TRAVELS IN FRANCE 

unlike in their characters. Besides, on the highest top of 
that mount, (said to have once been a favorite abode of a 
college of Druids,) on which the spacious and beautiful 
necropolis has been located, is to be seen, from afar, a grand 
monument erected, in 1825, to the Reformer Knox, the old 
champion of the Scottish Church, with his Bible in his hand, 
looking intently over on the city and the old cathedral op- 
posite to him. The fact is, in Glasgow, as one wanders 
around, he is brought into contact with the grand, the beau- 
tiful and ornamental, and the useful. 

The places in the city that most strongly attracted my atten- 
tion were the cathedral of the olden time and the university. 

The cathedral, which takes its name from St. Mungo, 
stands on an elevated site in the northwestern part of the 
city, that part that was first built. It is a precious relic of 
the edifices reared in the middle ages. Its size alone is 
worthy of being spoken of; it being two hundred and eighty- 
four feet in length, sixty-five feet in width, and ninety feet in 
height, and being ornamented with two tine towers, — one of 
which supports a spire corresponding in altitude to the mag- 
nitude of the structure. While such is the perfection of its 
architecture that, at least in parts of it, it has been con- 
sidered to exhibit the best specimen, by the old masons, of 
Gothic groining, now in existence. The roof in the crypt 
is specially admired ; and the main arch, from which no less 
than eight arches spring, is pointed out as possessing un- 
rivaled grandeur and solidity. Until a few years ago, the 
building was passing into decay, having been blocked up 
with rubbish ; but it has been cleaned out and thoroughly 
repaired. Only one part of it, the choir, is now used for the 
celebration of worship. It is worthy of being mentioned 
that, in the vicissitudes in the course of affairs, it has come 
to pass that, on one of the walls of this once Romish and 
subsequently EpisccTpal place of worship, — I speak of the 
wall of the north porch, — a slab of marble has been placed 
in honor of the Presbyterian martyrs who were executed, 
during the persecution before the Revolution of 1688, at the 
Market Cross of the city. The edifice, at least much of it, 
(for the work was carried on at different ages,) is said to be 
nearly seven hundred and twenty years old, having been 
founded by a bishop of Glasgow, named Achaius, in 1136. 
Since that time some events, in connection with its history, 



AND THE BRITISH ISLANDS. 261 

of considerable importance, have occurred. We learn that, 
during; the wars of Edward I. in Scotland, it fell into the hands 
of an English and military bishop, and it was to expel from it 
this foreign intruder that Wallace fought the battle of Glas- 
gow. Again, there is a story that at the Reformation it 
was about being destroyed, as other old Gothic churches in 
yarious parts of North Britain had been, but that the trades- 
men of the city saved it by threatening the life of the man 
who would first put on it a hand of violence. Again, in its 
nave, (termed the Outer High Kirk,) was held the General 
Assembly of November, 1638, by which Scottish Episcopacy 
was abolished; the first great movement toward the civil 
wars of Charles I.'s reign. Again, in the last age, destruc- 
tion, not through a wild religious fury as at the Reforma- 
tion, but by a gradual dilapidation, was about to overwhelm 
it ; however, as was remarked above, it has been made to re- 
new its youth, public attention having probably been directed 
to it, at least in part, by Scott, who has made it the theatre 
of one of the scenes of his "Rob Roy." Indeed, Scott con- 
tributed not merely to its late restoration, but it is by means of 
his writings that it has become classic ground visited by all 
travelers, even by royalty. 

While in Glasgow I spent half a day in the University and 
its museum. In truth the University is the place in which 
I spent more time than in any other. It stands in the old 
part of the city on the spacious and well-built though sombre- 
looking street called High Street. When going to it, I 
found this street, and some neighboring ones, thronged with 
crowds of country people, with which were mingled many 
persons from the North of Ireland, who had come across to 
stay a week or two and then return home. On inquiring as 
to what had caused the large gathering, I was informed that 
not long ago had been held the Fair of Glasgow, and that the 
numbers of men and of women, old and young, to be met v>^ith, 
were merely the residuaries of those who had attended on the 
occasion referred to. Almost all the Irish were of the class 
of laborers, and I could not but feel astonished that men and 
women, chained to the oar of drudgery and weariness for a 
pitiful subsistence, should be willing to pay steamboat fare 
to and from Scotland, besides the other expenses that must 
be incurred, merely for the sake of the excitement of a fair, in 
connection perhaps with the meeting with some old neighbors 



268 TRAVELS IN FRANCE 

who had settled as laborers in and about G-lasgow. Yet, on 
conversing with them, I found that all were pleased with 
their visit; and in spite of religious prejudices, for a great 
majority of the Irish were Catholics, were going home full 
of the praises of the Scotch. After making my way through 
the groups that were to be encountered, I reached the gate 
of the discolored, blackish edifice for which I was searching. 
It is plain but very substantial, and bears the aspect of a 
great antiquity. Within it two large courts are enclosed, 
around one of which are the houses of professors. It is 
quite spacious, having a front on the street of three hundred 
and five feet, and being in depth two hundred and eighty- 
two feet. After a few moments of inspection, given to the 
main edifice, I passed into the grounds behind it, where I 
walked around till the hour for the opening of the museum 
would arrive. These are extensive, and, if properly attended 
to and ornamented, would be very beautiful. At length the 
hour, for which I was waiting, came, and, presenting a ticket 
at the door of the University museum, I was admitted. The 
most valuable part of this institution consists in the noble 
collections made, in the several departments of the useful, 
of the curious, and of the scientific, by the celebrq^ted Dr. 
William Hunter of London, and bequeathed by him to the 
University of Glasgow. The numerous and admirable ana- 
tomical preparations are, no doubt, the most valuable things 
in the rooms, but, feeling myself very imperfectly qualified to 
describe them, I will not attempt to say anything of them in 
detail. For my part, I must say that I never met anywhere 
with anything, in this department, equal to them. Passing 
them by, I will mention, at random, some things that spe- 
cially attracted my observation. It is well known that the 
invention of stereotype printing is usually ascribed to Fir- 
min Didot, a celebrated Parisian type-founder and printer, 
of the family named Didot ; which family has produced 
several eminent printers. The first book published by him, 
which was printed in this manner, — Callet's Logarithmic 
and Trigonometrical Tables, — came from the press in 1*795. 
Now, in the Hunterian Museum, I have seen a stereotype 
plate of a Sallust published by William Ged, a Scotchman, 
in 1144, that is, fifty-one years before. But even G-ed was 
anticipated by J. Yan Der Mey, of Leyden, who published, 
a dozen years before the printing of Sallust by Ged, an edi- 



AND THE BRITISH ISLANDS. 269 

tion of the Dutch Bible, printed in this manner. Yet these 
things detract but little from the reputation of Didot, with 
whom the idea of stereotyping was original and whose ste- 
reotyping involved so great improvement on that of the others 
that this style of printing has now come into extensive use. 
Another thing that drew my notice was the skeletons of a 
tiger and a goat, placed side by side. The strength of the 
tiger is so very much superior to that of the goat that one 
is apt to suppose that the bones of the skeleton of the former 
must be vastly larger than those of the latter's skeleton. 
Still this is not the case by any means ; a fact that shows 
that muscle, and not bone, is, in the animal frame, the chief 
seat of power. Again, I gazed with a melancholy interest 
on the poor remains of a human being, once a distinguished 
man, a Burmese. His body was burned after death and the 
ashes collected into an earthen vase, while the fragments of 
the burnt bones were put into small dishes ; the vase, with the 
dishes arranged around it, having been placed under a pa- 
goda at Rangoon, and thence conveyed to Glasgow as a 
curiosity. Again, what a lesson do we learn from the col- 
lection of preserved infantine monsters, here to be seen; 
human shapes unnaturally and strangely shapeless ! Oh ! 
what a cure to the fires of man's lust ! Besides, I would 
remark that in this museum is a most admirable statue of 
Watt, with his dividers, and in studious mood, by Chantry, 
presented to the University by the son of Watt, in token of 
gratitude for the encouragement given by its professors to 
his father in his scientific pursuits in early life. 

Having fully gratified my curiosity in the museum, I re- 
turned to the University, to look at a few of its rooms and 
wander among its courts. W^ith respect to these, I have no 
particular remarks to make. They are old-fashioned, and 
in, by no means, the best repair, but still very well answer 
their purpose. That the grounds, the rooms, or anything 
connected with any part of the entire educational appa- 
ratus, should not be in a proper condition, is, to me, very 
strange, when I call to mind that the income of the Uni- 
vesity is £20,000 per year. Of course, on such an income 
as this a strong stalf of instructors is maintained ; this staff 
including professors of logic, of moral philosophy, of natural 
philosophy, of Greek, of Latin, of mathematics, and of civil 
law, as Avell as of astronomy, materia medica, anatomy, sur- 

22* 



2*70 TRAVELS IN FRANCE 

gery, midwifery, natural history, chemistry, botany, theology, 
the Oriental languages, and church history. The number of 
students is usually about one thousand. 

As to the past of this celebrated seminary of learning, I 
will barely remark that it was founded by Pope Nicholas Y. 
about 1450, and that since that time in its halls have 
flourished, both among its professors and alumni, as many 
eminent men as in almost any other institution of the kind 
in the world. I may add that among its alumni were John 
Knox and George Buchanan, who were students in it to- 
gether. 

Perhaps it may interest you to tell you, in this connec- 
tion, that, while I was in the museum of Glasgow University, 
no less distinguished a person than an American Ex-Presi- 
dent came in. He, and two other gentlemen, citizens of 
Glasgow, who were in his company, after having walked 
around for some time, opened the door to leave, when the 
individual who has charge of the museum came to me and 
asked me if I had ever seen Ex-President Fillmore, of the 
United States. I immediately went up to the book in which 
visitors enter their names, and found "Millard Fillmore, 
U. S. of A.," subscribed directly under my own. I imme- 
diately followed him to the door, but he had just stepped 
from it, and he was walking away ; else I would have made 
free to address him. 

Having taken up so much of this letter with an account 
of Glasgow, when, at the taking up of my pen, I had in- 
tended to say only a few words in reference to it, I will only 
further trouble you with a statement or two as to its first 
founding, and its rapid increase in population in the last 
century. In relation to its first founding, we know not any- 
thing. It is certain that near it, or perhaps where it stands, 
was a military station of the Romans, occupied by that peo- 
ple down to 426 ; which station was probably of importance, 
since, at not any great distance west of it, ran the wall of Anto- 
ninus, which it was requisite should be defended. It is also 
certain that when St. Mungo, (otherwise named St. ij^ente- 
gern,) in 560, first founded the See of Glasgow, Glasgow 
was a town. Thus, John of Tiumuth, who lived in 1366, 
speaking of Mungo, says, "His cathedral seat he fixed in 
the aforesaid town of Deschu, (interpreted illustrious family,) 
which is now called Glaschu." The See thus founded, hav- 



AND THE BRITISH ISLANDS. 2^1 

ing become extinct, was re-founded by David, Prince of Cum- 
berland, about the year 1115. And, in 1180, William the 
Lion erected the town into a burgh of regality. With re- 
spect to the rapid increase of Glasgow in population during 
the last century, I give the following statistics. In 1755, 
the number of inhabitants in the town and suburbs was com- 
puted to amount to little more than 23,000. In 1T80, it 
was 42,000. In 1801, it was 83,000. In 1821, it had risen 
to 147,000. In 1845, it was estimated to be about 270,000. 
And at present it is about 300,000. There are very few 
cities whose increase in population gives such evidence of 
prosperity as is afforded, in regard to this city, by these sta- 
tistics. 

Having seen of Griasgow all that I was desirous to look 
at, I embarked for Belfast, by steamboat, on the afternoon 
of Thursday, the 19th inst. We were soon at the place 
where the Clyde ceases to be a river and becomes a frith; 
and, passing the ruins of Dunglass Castle, at which, it is 
said, was the western end of Antoninus's wall, the Rock and 
Castle of Dumbarton, (two and a half miles west of Dun- 
glass Castle,) and Greenock, were quickly out at sea. Then 
night began to set in, and then began the bright blaze of 
lighthouses to appear : in these circumstances, and feeling 
wearied, I bade adieu, by a last look, to 

" The land of brown lieatli and shnggy wood," 

and retired to rest to awake in the Emerald Isle in the 
morning. Of course, in this state of matters, I will not at- 
tempt to give the particulars of the voyage. Suffice it to 
say that, not a very long time after I got out of bed in the 
morning, and I had rubbed the dust and dimness out of ray 
eyes, I found myself in Belfast Bay, and then in the River 
Laggan and close by Belfast. 

Having soon settled myself dow^n in a comfortable hotel, 
and rested and recruited nature still languid, I set out to walk 
around the town. As I told you of Belfast, in a previous 
lettevi, all that I suppose you care about bearing in relation 
to it, I will not tax your patience by telling that which 
would be nearly a repetition of what I said before. I will 
only say that 1 spent a good part of the day on which I got 
off the boat in again viewing things of which I have before 
said something. 



2Y2 TRAVELS IN FRANCE 

However, I will attempt to give you a brief account of an 
excursion that I made on Saturday last to Carrickfergus. 

Having breakfasted, and walked to College Square, to 
make a call on an old acquaintance, I took the train for the 
city named, and, in a very brief time, found myself there. 
As I spent in it only two or three hours, having returned 
from it in the evening, I will not attempt to say, with respect 
to it, a great deal. It stands, as probably you are already 
aware, at the distance of eight or nine miles from Belfast, on 
the north side of Carrickfergus Bay, and is the assize town 
of the County of Antrim. It is a pleasant, old-fashioned 
place, without much business or great wealth, though too 
much exposed to the cutting sea-breezes in the winter for 
delicate lungs. One thing noticeable among the humbler 
portion of its citizens is a dialect, and accent, approximat- 
ing in their character to those of the western coast of Scot- 
land. Its jail, and courthouse, like those of Irish county- 
towns always, are large, solid and convenient structures. It 
has also a substantial pier running out into the far-stretching 
expanse of neighboring shallow water, at which small vessels 
are able to unload. In addition to these objects of interest, 
ought to be noticed the old Castle of Joymount and the 
more ancient edifice named Carrickfergus Castle. This lat- 
ter-mentioned venerable pile, which is still used for military 
purposes, is perhaps the very oldest edifice of the kind in 
Ireland. Standing in frowning grandeur on a rock of no 
great height, this rock projecting into the wide bay, the 
sight of it cannot fail to suggest the remembrances of ancient 
turbulent sept-chiefs who, with the days of barbarism, have 
passed away ; of warlike feudal barons ; and especially of 
that powerful race, (that of the De Bourgos,) which once 
held sway in it, whose blood and title disappeared, five cen- 
turies ago, from those shores, by blending themselves with 
the lineage and honors of a still prouder and more powerful 
race, the crowned Plantagenets. 

The town is, in some form or other, of great antiquity, 
Carrickfergus Castle, — under whose protection some sort of 
a town had no doubt been built up, — having been in exist- 
ence even before the landing of Strongbow in Ireland. This 
town and castle witnessed the presence, in 1210, of King 
John who, for a brief time, occupied the Castle; and it v/as 
while residing in it that, in consequence of the tyrannical 



AND THE BRITISH ISLANDS. 2^3 

conduct of W. de Breuse, (or Braosa,) he ordered the arrest 
of de Breuse's wife and daughter, himself having fled, — these 
unfortunate persons, along with a youth, son to the one pri- 
soner and brother to the other, subsequently dying in the 
dungeons under Windsor Castle. Again, about one hun- 
dred years after the visit of King John to Carrickfergus, (in 
1315 and 1316,) it sustained a terrible siege from the Scotch 
army during the invasion of Ireland by Edward Bruce ; in 
the course of this siege, the citizens and garrison having 
been reduced to such straits as to eat the hides of beasts, 
and even to eat eight Scotch prisoners. At length, after 
the endurance of superhuman sufferings, the place was sur- 
rendered to the two Bruces ; Robert, during the progress of 
the investment, having come across from Scotland with re- 
inforcements Again, thirty-six years after this, in 1352^ 
the seigniory of the town and its dependencies,— by the 
marriage of the only child and heiress of the Earl of Ulster 
with Lionel, Duke of Clarence, (the third son of Edward III. 
of England,) from whom the English kings subsequently 
came to be descended, — passed into the royal family. Again, 
passing over an interval of nearly three hundred years, when 
the Scotch Parliament, in 1642, sent an army to aid the Irish 
Protestants against the Confederate Catholics, this city was 
occupied by the Scotch general, and was his most important 
stronghold. Again, coming down to the era of the Revolu- 
tion, being held by a strong garrison for James II., it was 
besieged, in 1689, by the Duke of Schomberg for Wil- 
liam III., when, after a regular investment, it was compelled, 
having been ably and courageously defended, to surrender, 
though on favorable terms. I only add that since this, no 
military event in connection with it has occurred, except the 
attack made on it, in the early part of 1760, with three ships 
and only seven or eight hundred land forces, by that enter- 
prising and bold rover of the seas, the French Captain Thu- 
rot. The garrison was small, and Thurot was brave and 
skillful. In this state of things a battle was fought in the 
streets. During this conflict, a thoughtless child ran play- 
fully between the parties, when a French soldier, with a con- 
siderate humanity and a marvelous coolness, above all praise, 
put aside his musket, went up to the child, and, taking it up, 
carried it to a place of safety ; then resuming his place in 
the fusilade. The result of the fight in the streets was that 



274 TRAVELS IN FRANCE 

the garrison was forced to retire into the Castle, which was 
soon compelled, on account of the fragility of its old walls, 
to capitulate. 

Nor is the ecclesiastical history of Carrickfergus void of 
interest. In it, in the years of darkness, stood a monastery 
which was connected, by a vaulted subterranean passage, still 
in existence, with the ancient parish church. It was on the 
ruins of this monastery that, in the reign of James I., Joy- 
mount Castle was erected. It is worthy of notice, in regard to 
this town, that it was the first town in the northern part of Ire- 
land that became Protestant. This we learn from the char- 
ter granted to it in 1569, when Elizabeth sat on the throne, 
in which instrument it is mentioned that the inhabitants had 
embraced the Reformed religion several years before. Be- 
sides, it is worthy of being mentioned that it was in it that 
the" Presbyterian Church in Ireland, the smallest of the three 
main ecclesiastical communions in this country, had, as an 
organized religious community, its origin. This event oc- 
curred on the 10th of June, 1642, when the first presbytery 
that ever met, at least in modern times, in the island, first 
assembled. Providence brought about this occurrence in 
the follovAdng way. The confusion and carnage of the terri- 
ble year of 1641 had left the Protestant pulpits everywhere, 
and in the northern part of Ireland more particularly, al- 
most unoccupied. Also, an army, in consequence of the 
condition in which the country then was, had been sent over 
from Scotland to assist the Protestants. The presbytery 
which met on the occasion referred to was composed of five 
chaplains from this army, to wit: Messieurs Cunningham, 
Baird, Peebles, Scott, and Aird, and of four ruling elders 
from sessions that had been erected among its soldiery. 
The object which these men had in view in thus assembling 
was to take measures for supplying the Protestants of the 
contiguous districts with preaching. And the body thus 
called into being was soon joined by several ministers who 
had hitherto been connected with the Irish Protestant 
Church ; among whom Mr. Nevin, of Donaghadee, and Mr. 
Melvin, of Downpatrick, were the foremost and the most 
prominent. Thus had Irish Presbyterianism a beginning ; 
for, previous to this, though there had been numerous 
Nonconformists in the island, (many of whom had suffered 
persecution for their Nonconformity,) and most of these had 



AND THE BRITISH ISLANDS. 275 

either been inclined toward this form of church organization, 
or had been, in their views, decided preferrers of it, yet up 
to this time no maintenance of the principles peculiar to 
Presbyterianism, in their full extent, had been attempted by 
g^n organized community. And, from that time down to 
the present, Irish Presbyterians have uninterruptedly main- 
tained, whether sunshine or storm, an ecclesiastical exist- 
ence. 

With respect to my sojourn in Belfast, after my return to 
it from Carrickfergus, suffice it to say that, having spent my 
Sunday there, I secured a ticket for the town of Antrim, by 
the railroad, and, in the forenoon of Monday, made my w^ 
thither. 

The place just named stands on quite a small stream, the 
Six- mile Water, and near by the northeastern corner of Lough 
Neagh, and is about fourteen miles from Belfast. It is a 
town of between two and three thousand inhabitants who 
are noted for their intelligence and industry. It is strongly 
Protestant. Especially are the Presbyterians here numerous. 
Also, the Unitarians have a considerable numerical strength. 
I rambled somewhat in the vicinity, and, when thus employed 
at a considerable distance from the town, a circumstance well 
worth being noted came under my observation. I came on 
a handsome little building whose use I could by no means 
understand. Upon inquiring of an individual, into whose 
company I had fallen, what sort of a building it was, he told 
me it was a church belonging to the establishment, that 
there was not in the parish a single person, (he believed,) 
who did not reckon himself a Dissenter, and that, objection 
having been made, on the ground of there being no church 
edifice, to the payment of tythes, this little church had been 
built to silence all such complaints and objections for the fu- 
ture. This case, however, is no doubt, entirely unique. 

The town and its vicinity are noted for several objects de- 
serving the traveler's attention. Among these I would first 
notice one of those ancient Round Towers which are to be met 
with in so many places in Ireland, and one in the very best 
state of preservation of any in the island. About one mile 
from the town, this curious piece of masonry stands, having 
braved the storms of mysterious centuries, an enigma, now 
unsolvable by man ; and perhaps a thousand years hence it 
may be standing as perfect as to-day, a mystery moreincom- 



2T6 TRAVELS IN FRANCE 

prehensible then, as it is now, than even the Pyramids. Said 
pillar-tower has a single door, for entrance, high above the 
ground ; has four small windows near its top, looking to the 
cardinal points ; is about fifteen feet in diameter, and is of 
the height of about ninety-five feet. When the structures, 
of which it is a specimen, were reared, is totally unknown. 
Even when the Anglo-Norman landed in Ireland, they had 
been standing during a time indefinitely long. Nor is there 
any certainty as to the use for which they were raised. 
They do not answer any similar purpose to that for which 
belfries are raised, as there is not, as to each, room for a 
bell to swing in the top. They could not have been built 
for beacons, as they are frequently to be found in low situ- 
ations. Possibly the hypothesis may be well-founded that 
they were intended as sanctuaries for the preservation of 
portions of the sacred fire in the days of paganism ; though, 
a theory, to which, in preference, I am disposed to give 
credence, is that they are monuments raised over the dead, a 
human skeleton, it is affirmed, having been found, so far as 
they have been explored, under each. Or perhaps they 
were the keeps of the early Christian ecclesiastics for their 
manuscripts and sacred things. Certainly they prove that 
at a very remote period there lived in Ireland persons capa- 
ble of surpassing in masonry, as it respects durability, the 
skill of Egypt or Greece. I may mention that the number 
in the entire island is stated to be about sixty-two, (though 
I have seen a statement, which may be correct, putting them 
as high as one hundred and seventeen or eighteen,) and that 
they vary in height from thirty-five to one hundred and 
twenty feet. The Castle of Antrim is also deserving of no- 
tice ; the seat of Lord Massarene, the representative of the 
old Irish knight. Sir John Clot worthy, celebrated as an in- 
fluential member of the Long Parliament to which, having 
been compelled by Strafi'ord to fly from Ireland, he was 
elected in England, and celebrated also as a lay member of 
the Westminster Assembly, the body which compiled the 
symbols of the Presbyterian churches of the British Islands 
and of the United States. Besides, Shane's Castle ought, 
by all means, not to be passed by. This old mansion has 
been, for a long period of time, the residence of the Lords 
O'Neil, the last line of persons, (at least occupying any 
distinguished social position,) belonging to any of the 



AND THE BRITISH ISLANDS. 2tt 

branches of those ancient O'lSTeils connected prominently 
through so many centuries with Irish history. Well do I 
recollect, in my college days, to have s'een that one of the 
family, with whom the title was to expire, in Belfast, when 
he bore the simple title of a general in the army, an elder 
brother, (if I mistake not,) bearing, at that time, the family 
title. On the occasion referred to, I was told to go around to 
Donegal Place, in the city named, where I would see Greneral 
O'Neil, — a general, at the time, being to me as great a 
curiosity as an emperor, — and, having walked to that local- 
ity, I there met him then in the prime of life and ere long to 
become the last of his race. 

The small town of Antrim is not without historical asso- 
ciations connected with it. In it resided and preached, from 
16T1 to 1676, the eloquent and eminent English Puritan di- 
vine, John Howe. In it also resided, both contemporane- 
ously with him and subsequently, the Rev. Thomas Gowan, 
one of the ejected Irish Presbyterian ministers, a man de- 
serving of being named even along with Howe These two 
men were here, some time, conjoined in presiding over a 
school of philosophy and theology, the first experiment of the 
Irish Presbyterians as to domestic education in the branches 
usually taught in universities ; an experiment, however, in 
which they found it impossible, in those days, long to perse- 
vere. 

Nor has Antrim been without experience of the evils of 
civil war. In it, on the 7th of June, 1798, was fought a 
severe battle between a -considerable body of the forces of 
George III., in Ireland, and a body of United Irishmen from 
the surrounding districts. At this time the army at the dis- 
posal of the Yiceroy amounted to one hundred and fifty 
thousand men, divided in parties of between two and ten 
thousand among the thirty-two counties of the island ; a 
force, I may in a passing way remark, three times greater 
than Britain has ever employed against America. In the 
County of Antrim the military were particularly strong. 
The question was much discussed among the leaders of the 
then projected revolution, whether the patriotic portion of 
the people could master such a military force ; and it was 
determined to make the experiment. Partly with this view ; 
partly to seize as prisoners a body of the magistracy to be as- 
sembled in the place on the day named ; partly from sympa- 

23 



21 8 TRAVELS IN FRANCE 

thy with those who had been driven into active revolt on 
the southeastern coasj: ; partly to regain possession of large 
stores of small arms, and of ammunition, which had been col- 
lected from the country people ; and partly to anticipate the 
seizure of more prisoners and the gathering up of more arms, 
things expected to ensue from the magisterial meeting about 
to take place, — the assault was made. This occurred at two 
o'clock in the afternoon. And the attack, after a hard con- 
flict, was crowned with success, so that the assailants ob- 
tained possession both of the town, of the small arms in it, 
and of two curricle guns. Bat, one road being occupied too 
late by the assailants, by it the soldiery withdrew. These 
being soon strongly reinforced returned quickly to the con- 
flict. In their first onset, they were, at all points, severely 
foiled. Warned by this, they had recourse mainly to 
their artillery in which they were vastly superior to their 
Croppy opponents who had only two brass pieces and the 
curricle guns which they had captured. At length, after an 
obstinate engagement of three hours, the United forces, 
wearied out by an artillery fire, to which they could but im- 
perfectly respond, abandoned the town, retiring hastily, and 
with broken ranks, (with the loss of their artillery, though 
carrying with them most of the firelocks that they had 
taken,) to Donegor Hill ; the great body of them, in a few 
days, by the advice of their leader, McCracken, returning, 
till after harvest and the reception of arms and artillery from 
France, to their homes. On the side of the loyalist party, 
fell Lord O'Neil, Colonel Lumley» several inferior officers, 
and a large number of the rank and file which was never 
correctly given to the public, while the United men lost 
many hundreds. 

In relation to this engagement, I gathered up, from some 
of those that still survive, who had been concerned in it, or 
who had resided at the time in the vicinity, several anecdotes. 
An insane man, who used to wander around, had gone thither 
with his neighbors, and such was the impression made on him 
by the scene, that, though he lived nearly forty years after- 
wards, no promises nor persuasions could induce him ever 
again to enter the town : when urged he would at once be 
off in some other direction. In the district where this afflicted 
man had his home, when at home, was, and is, a large Dis- 
senting congregation, and of all the families in it there were 



AND THE BRITISH ISLANDS. 219 

only two, that of the minister, and that of which my inform- 
ant was a member, (these two families being restrained, the 
one by the tie of the regium donuni, and the other by the 
fear of forfeiting a considerable property,) which had not some 
member in the battle ; and, in the graveyard in which these 
people buried their dead, there were counted, within a week 
after, no less than in the neighborhood of fifty funerals of 
young men. Again, I was told by an old soldier, who had 
served in the heavy horse, — his story being confirmed by 
others, — that the body of heavy cavalry, to which he be- 
longed, having been ordered to charge down the street, had 
entered the town at a gallop, but that, having reached a cer- 
tain point, an unexpected close fire had cut down seventeen 
of their number, being the entire head of the column. He 
said, though he had passed through many battles, he had 
never witnessed anything so frightful as the whole breadth 
of a street covered with wounded and dying men and horses ; 
while those behind, ignorant of the state of matters, were, at 
a gallop, pressing those before them on the prostrate and 
struggling mass. Yet, with all these things, (and, leaving 
skirmishes out of the count, this was only one battle out of 
more than twenty such, — resulting with varied success,) were 
George III., his ministry, and the Irish oligarchy, ready to 
put up, rather than grant to a nation those reasonable re- 
quests which since, without injury to any one, have been, 
most of them, conceded ; reform in Parliament, equality of 
civil and religious rights to the Dissenter, and Catholic eman- 
cipation. 

Having gratified my curiosity as to the town of Antrim, 
I proceeded, the next day, to Ballymena, by railroad. The 
country between these two towns, which are distant from 
each other about eight miles, is excellent and very carefully 
cultivated. Ballymena I found to be a very fine inland town, 
with a population of about six thousand ; one much superior 
to anything that, in respect to it, I had any idea of, and one 
which I would view as a pleasant place of residence. It 
stands on a pleasant rivulet, the Braid, and is, much of it, 
well built. It also contains an excellent classical and mathe- 
matical school, the diocesan school of the old Protestant 
Episcopal diocese of Connor. Besides, the communication 
between it and Belfast is now by railroad, so that one re- 
siding in it has almost all the advantages that he would have 



280 TRAVELS IN FRANCE 

in dwelling in the mercantile and literary emporium of Ulster. 
This town has always been distinguished for intelligence, 
industry, and morality. It has also always been strongly 
Presbyterian. It was in it, in March, 1661, — after Presby- 
terianism, and especially Presbyterian Church Judicatories, 
had been outlawed by the Irish government, in obedience to 
the commands of Charles II. who had just been restored to 
the throne, — that the General Synod of the Presbyterians 
was broken up by a body of dragoons, which attempted its 
surprisal ; the members having barely time to flee before the 
soldiery entered, with drawn swords, the place of meeting. 

Having, in the afternoon, secured a conveyance, in com- 
pany with a mercantile agent from Belfast, who was on his 
way to Derry by the route of Toome-Bridge Yillage, Mag- 
hera, and Dungiven, at which towns he desired to make 
short stops, we started to reach Toome before night. The 
distance, by the road we took, is about seventeen or eigh- 
teen miles; the country being, much of it, broken and 
mountainous. The village itself, spoken of, is small. It 
stands on the eastern bank of the Bann, (which here divides 
the counties of Antrim and Derry,) and quite close to the 
large expanse of fresh water, named Lough Neagh. And 
I would here say that, under the slanting rays of the setting 
sun, this lake to me looked very beautiful. All that are 
wanting are islets, and banks more picturesque ; defects that, 
no doubt, contribute much to render scenery tame and un- 
interesting. Covering an area, in square miles, nearly twice 
as large as that of the Lake of Geneva, situated in the midst 
of an extensive and fertile country, having a fine river flow- 
ing through it to the ocean, and being, in level, only fifty 
feet above tide-water, it ought to carry "on its flood an ex- 
tensive traffic. I regret to say that, owing to a want of en- 
terprise among capitalists in the neighborhood, (for capital 
is not wanting, but merely sluggish,) this is far from being 
the case. Yet, unplowed though it is now, two hundred 
years ago, in the civil wars that began in 1641, frigates 
cruised and joined battle on its bosom. 

Having stayed all night in Toome at a poor tavern, (ta- 
verns in the smaller towns in Ireland being very generally 
shamefully miserable things,) we continued, next morning, to 
press on our way, soon losing sight of the sheet of water 
that had so lately been spread beneath our view. The coun- 



AND THE BRITISH ISLANDS. 281 

try, between this village and Maghera, is, most of it, excellent 
and well cultivated ; the main exception to this remark, having 
reference to a wide boggy level beginning at Toome-Bridge 
and extending a considerable distance into the County of 
Derry. On this level, the houses are mostly built of turf or 
mud, a most unusual thing in this part of Ireland. Early in 
the day, we reached Maghera. This town contains a popula- 
tion of about eleven hundred, and has a neat, comfortable, and 
thrifty appearance. While I was staying at a tavern here, 
a wedding party, with a respectable-looking man dressed in 
black, came in, and, having called for a half-pint or a pint of 
whisky spirits, retired to a room to converse and be friendly 
over it. I inquired who the man in the black garments 
was, and learned that he was a clergyman. I am sure you 
will agree with me that there is still abundant room for the 
temperance movement to expatiate in. I would add that at 
this place, as I was told after having left it, formerly stood 
one of those Round Towers that I spoke of in a previous part 
of this epistle ; a class of structures which, though numerous 
in Ireland, is not to be met with anywhere else, except two 
in Scotland and two near Bhangulpore in Hindostan. The 
one referred to, when it fell, though of no small height, fell 
as entire as if it had been a huge piece of ordnance. How 
admirable then must originally have been its masonry, and 
how excellent and durable the cement used in its construc- 
tion I 

A little after midday we again started on our journey. 
After passing, for several miles, through a fine and carefully 
cultivated country, our road lay across a range of broad- 
topped mountains, bearing the name of the Carntogher 
Mountains. From the one side to the other of these, — 
which are green, and nowhere, at least in this part of the 
range, of steep ascent, and which furnish excellent summer 
pasturage for large flocks of young black cattle and of sheep, 
— is a dfstance of about eight miles ; in which distance there 
are not more than two houses. While passing through 
them, I observed, in an old graveyard, far off from human 
dwellings, in which no doubt a funeral had recently been, 
what seemed to me very affecting, though a thing founded on 
no warrant in the sacred volume; a number of females, with 
disheveled hair, bowing in prayer around the graves of their 
dead relatives. At length we reached the northwestern side 

23* 



282 TRAVELS IN FRANCE 

of the range, and very soon were in the town which we de- 
signed for our resting-place during the night. 

As to Dungiven I will not say much. It is a village 
chiefly ranging, in a single long street, along the road, and 
containing a population of a thousand persons, more or less. 
The fact is, it contains not anything of interest to the tra- 
veler, except some old ecclesiastical remains, and a part of 
the skeleton of an old castle, once a place of strength, but 
now dilapidated. 

Next morning we started for Derry, the distance being 
seventeen miles. The road from Dungiven to Derry is ex- 
cellent. First, we passed through a pretty country lying in 
the vicinity of the Rowe Water, the small stream on which 
Dungiven is situated. Next, we journeyed through a dis- 
trict of a much ruder appearance. Then we entered a most 
beautiful and highly improved valley, Faughan Yale, through 
which flows a small river, the Faughan Water. Many 
excellent houses are spread along this stream for many 
miles ; and everywhere are to be seen beautiful greens that 
had been used in former days for the bleaching of linen 
cloth, though scarcely any of them are now employed for 
this purpose ; the linen business, in this part of Ireland, be- 
ing now nearly defunct. And ere long the stately City of 
Derry, whence I address to you this letter, with its magnifi- 
cent bay and river, burst on our view. 

I now bid you and my pleasant traveling companion good- 
by together ; the one for a time, and the other probably 
forever. 

I conclude this epistle by subscribing myself, 

Yours, &c., M. F. 



AND THE BRITISH ISLANDS. 283 



NO. XXIX. 

This the Last Letter from Ireland — The Region on the Bays, the Swilly and the 
Foyle — Size of Donegal Count}^ — Size of Derry County — The Property of the Lon- 
don Societies — Character of the Population — Its Classes— Employments — The Cli- 
mate — Gloominess when Compared with Southern Skies — Dwellings — Food — Doe- 
gun — Cromlech— Lough Derg — Kuins of the Palace of the Old Princes — Kaths — 
Ennishowen Castle — Mongevlin Castle — Castledoe — Red Deer — Towns — Derry, (Ac- 
count of,) — Brief Annals of the City — Columb of the Churches — lona — King Duncan 
— The Rev. Francis McKemy — Farquharand Toland — General Richard Montgomery 
— The Hibernian Dalriada — The Caledonian — The Scoti — Their First Seat in the 
British Islands — History of, &c. — Days of Paganism — The Younger Patricius — The 
Norsemen — Invasion of the Munstermen in 1134 — De Courcy — Expedition to lona 
— O'Donell attends Convention (in 1303) of the Great Men, &c. — Protestant Refor- 
mation — Bishop of Raphoe, a Member of the Council of Trent — Civil War of the Three 
Provinces against the Yice-Regal Government — Subsequently, a Plot — Forfeitures 
and Plantation — Protestantism — Wars of 1641 — Wars of the British Revolution — 
Siege of Derry — Volunteers — United Irishmen — Opening of Correspondence, &c. — 
Main Political Grievances — Death of Hoche — General Daendels — General Bonaparte 
— General Humbert — James Napper Tandy — Commodore Bomparte's Fleet — Military 
Force under General Hardy — Battle of Torry Island — Theobald W. Tone — Ambushes 
— Union — Tandy Seized in Hamburg, &c. — United Men again Canvassed as to, &c. — 
Peace of Amiens — Renewal of War between England and France — Revival, once 
more, of Correspondence with France, through the United States — Jerome Bonaparte 
in America — His Marriage — Admission into a French Port refused to his Wife— 
Himself Blockaded in New York— Reaches France — Close of the Projects of the 
United Irishmen — Dissatisfaction continues — Batteries — Cruisers — A Camp — Loss 
of the Saldanna Frigate. 

City of Derry, September, 1855. 

I HAVE not written to you since the letter that I addressed 
to you on the 26th of July ; but the reason was that I pur- 
posed to write from Ireland only once more, and, this being 
the case, thought I might defer the dating and the conclud- 
ing of this long and perhaps tedious epistle till about to 
leave for Liverpool. 

In this letter I will attempt to give you some account of 
the region in which I have been spending my time since my 
return from Scotland. This region is that which lies on the 
bays, the Swilly and the Foyle, in the counties of Donegal and 
Derry ; occupying the extreme northern part of the island. 
Of portions of these counties I have spoken already ; having 
spoken of a portion of Donegal in that letter in which I 
gave an account of my journey from this city to the western 
shore of Lough Swilly, and having spoken considerably at 
large of a large part of the County of Derry in the letter that 
I last sent you, in which I gave an account of my journey 
from Toome-Bridge Yillage hither. Perhaps, indeed, I 
may best convey to you correct ideas by speaking, not merely 



284 TRAVELS IN FRANCE 

of districts of these counties, but of the counties themselves ; 
and, in making my remarks to be thus comprehensive, 
I do not take too much upon me, since, though I have not 
been entirely through either, I have seen much of both, and 
I have such a knowledge of what I have not seen, that it 
may be said to be everything but personal. 

The shires of Donegal and Derry lie side by side, and in 
fact a part of Derry, containing the capital of the county, runs 
in such a way into Donegal that the one may be viewed as 
mortised into the other. Donegal is more than twice the size 
of its sister county, the former containing nearly 1,200,000 
acres, and the latter only a little more than 500,000 ; yet 
there is so much rough and mountainous soil in Donegal that 
there are not altogether 400,000 acres under cultivation, or 
one-third of the county, while in Derry there are 320,000 
acres under tillage, or not very far from two-thirds of it. 
And when it is remembered that the arable soil of the smaller 
shire is vastly more fertile than that of the other, it will be 
seen that the yield of this smaller one is not unlikely to ex- 
ceed that of its larger neighbor. Both counties are almost 
entirely cut up into lauded estates that are very large, while 
the farms, (into which these estates are divided,) though 
some of them are also large, — containing two hundred acres, 
— are generally quite small, (fifty, thirty, twenty acres,) 
and sometimes merely lots of four or five acres, cultivated 
with the spade. Of the size of some of the larger landed 
properties you can scarcely form an adequate idea. One 
travels over miles after miles and it is the same landed 
proprietor who all along owns all. These landed mono- 
polies are very injurious to the community, where they cover, 
as in the case of which I am speaking, the entire soil 
of the country in which they are situated. Just think of 
the condition of the County Derry, in which, it is said, (I 
believe without exaggeration,) no less than 300,000 English 
statute acres, (a part of this territory, however, being moun- 
tainous,) are owned by the Londoners who, for two hundred 
years, have been taking away, every year, from the county, 
the rental of this immense property. It is only the extra- 
ordinary industry, and the strict economy, of the population, 
that enable it to sustain itself under such a drain. I 
doubt whether almost any other population on the globe 
could do so. Those immense estates have the farms, into 



AND THE BRITISH ISLANDS. 285 

which we have said they are divided, let to the occupiers on 
leases, some of these terminable, and some interminaMe; th^ 
general" terms of the terminable leases, being thirty-one 
years and three lives, that is, thirty-one years and the life 
of the longest surviving of three persons named in each such 
lease. 

With respect to the population of these counties, I remark 
that it is exceedingly similar in the one to what it is in the 
other. In both it is composed of the descendants of the old 
Celtic race, (which once formed the substratum of the popu- 
lation of the island,) and of the descendants of settlers from 
England, Scotland, Wales, and the Pale, the fathers of the 
larger number of whom came hither between the years 1609 
and about 1625, — this latter year being the year in which 
James I. died. Between the various races furnishing the 
settlers that came hither, the amalgamation very soon was 
complete, and also, to a considerable extent, these commin- 
gled their blood with that of the aboriginal inhabitants ; but, 
owing to the fact that the posterity of th^ settlers was Pro- 
testant, while nine-tenths of the posterity of the Celtic race 
remained Koman Catholic, the descendant of the Celt and 
that of the settler, — especially as it relates to the former, — 
blended but imperfectly ; nor have they yet blended. Indeed 
a traveler may go into large districts where most of the 
population is as completely Celtic in language and habits as 
it was in the palmiest days of the Earls of Tyrone and Tyr- 
connel. On the other hand, especially in the County Derry, 
one may go through large tracts of country where the Eng- 
lish element in the population has had such a predominance 
that one might suppose that the ancestry of the people was 
nearly entirely English. ' This is particularly the case in 
neighborhoods where the plantation was made by the Lon- 
don societies. Yet these distinctions arising from descent 
and from old traditions have long ceased to cause any heart- 
burnings or ill-will in the community generally; no doubt 
because, in part, of the amalgamation of races, but mainly 
because differences of this kind have not been recognized by 
law for nearly two hundred and fifty years. Indeed, all the 
lines of demarkation, that are now recognized by the com- 
munity, grow out of differences of birth, of fortune, of edu- 
cation, of moral deportment, and of religion. But these 
make wide margins of separation. You, who have never 



286 TRAVELS IN FRANCE 

been out of the United States, cannot imagine how very 
wide these are, especially as it respects birth, education, and 
fortune. In fact, what, with you, would elevate a man into 
a favorite with the masses, would here cause him to be 
looked on as not much more than half wise. * Thus I know 
of a gentleman, in one of these counties, of ancient lineage 
and large wealth, who, American-like, could not see, except 
very dimly, differences among men on account of their diver- 
sities as to social position, and the result has been that he 
has come to be very generally regarded as pretty much a 
simpleton. Now, in the United States I have known of 
men of the same sort, and they were rewarded for their dim- 
ness of vision, — of course, in connection with other things, — 
by being elected to the executive chairs of States, or by being 
sent to Congress. Indeed, in the United States, among 
white people, differences of social position, out of large cities, 
are scarcely, in some cases, more than recognized at all, 
while here a man of the first rank is separated by a long 
distance from any familiarity with a humble neighbor. 
Each system, no doubt, has its advantages and disadvan- 
tages. One disadvantage of the system prevailing with you 
is that men of education, of polished manners, and of for- 
tune, are always anxious to move, when living in the coun- 
try, into towns and cities, while here the country is con- 
stantly obtaining recruits from among the polished and 
prosperous of the cities. 

As to the personal appearance of the population of which 
I am speaking, you may be desirous that I would say some- 
thing. With respect to the outward looks of diverse classes 
there is great difference in all countries, (except perhaps the 
United States,) and as much here as anywhere else. Thus, 
here, the gentry, the middle class, and the class of laborers, 
are very unlike in their manners and dress. Yet, all have 
many things in common ; vigorous and healthy bodies, fair 
and ruddy complexions, good lungs, and teeth that could 
chew through a nail. The upmost class dress in the best 
garments of every sort, and the middle class also dress well ; 
but it is only the portion of the class of laborers, which is of 
Celtic race, that attires itself comfortably. Those belong- 
ing to this division of the class last spoken of dress in home- 
made woolens . exceedingly subsiantial and comfortable 
though coarse, so that, in the back districts of these coun- 



AND THE BRITISH ISLANDS. 281 

ties, the humblest laborers, even when satisfied to live in the 
meanest cabins, are well clothed. But those belonging to 
the class of laborers, not of Celtic blood in the main, are the 
reverse of this. They are often satisfied to buy other peo- 
ple's cast-off clothes, and often are ragged. Superior to 
the back-country laborer in skill, persevering endurance of 
toil, and enterprise, and with a higher standard of comfort, 
they are far behind him in respectability of personal appear- 
ance. 

As to the pursuits of the people here, I observe that farm- 
ing, grazing, and fishing, are chiefly followed. Formerly 
the spinning of linen yarns, and the weaving, of linen clotj^, 
engaged great numbers very profitably ; but these employ- 
ments, since cotton came to be worn so generally, have, to a 
great extent, ceased. Also, formerly another branch of in- 
dustry, the knitting of woolen stockings, was much followed 
in some districts, but it, too, has greatly fallen away. With 
respect to farming, the chief employment of the popula- 
tion, I observe that the farmers often cultivate farms that 
are very small, yet they do this so as to gather very large 
crops for the acres under cultivation ; and the large farmers 
cultivate skillfully, outstripping, at least in the laborious care 
with which they weed their fields, the best American farmers. . 
Often have I seen six or eight women weeding in company 
on a farm, and this not for a few days but for the season. I 
may further add as to this grand branch of industry that, 
along the shores of the bays, though the land is often very 
thin and unproductive, those who cultivate it, by the appli- 
cation of vraich, (from the French varech, sea-weed,) suc- 
ceed in raising large crops ; the vraich being cultivated be- 
tween the lowest ebb-tide and the high-tide marks, (like arti- 
ficial grass on land,) from stones of a certain sort, which are 
procured and carefully planted. As to grazing, the second 
branch of industry which I mentioned as among those 
tkat the people of these counties chiefly attend to, I re- 
mark that the graziers are, by no means, scant in number, 
being, however, mainly to be found among the mountains, 
where they keep the young cattle of the farmers, but .only 
during the summer ; being unable to keep any large num- 
bers of cattle during the winter, on account of the small 
quantity of winter p^^ovender, which their mountains enable 
them to lay by. The other pursuit, of which, as being one 



288 TRAVELS IN FRANCE 

of the leading businesses carried on in these counties, I 
spoke, is FISHING. In this employment, Donegal is much 
more largely embarked than Derry, Donegal having, en- 
gaged actively in the calling, about thirteen thousand fisher- 
men and three thousand boats. These men, though not 
distinguished for enterprise, are, as to personal daring and 
skill in the management of boats, equal, and perhaps supe- 
rior, to any similar class in the world. I myself have met 
such, in small open boats, far out of sight of land ; willingly 
exposed to the hyperborean storms that not unfrequently 
rage around the Irish coast. And, when speaking of the 
b(^tmen of this district of the island, I ought not to pass 
by the boatmen of Torry Island, a narrow islet of about 
three miles in length ; men whose maritime adventurousness 
is incapable of being surpassed. These, in their decked 
boats, which, so far as I know, are the only vessels, on the 
model of the old Norwegian sea-king's vessels, now in exist- 
ence, (perhaps the Scottish Isles may have ones built in the 
same manner,) will brave any sea and any weather. I have 
thought, when looking at these things, that one huge Alle- 
ghany chain of water, rushing on, would submerge a fleet of 
them. But the men tie themselves at their posts, the sea 
rolls over them, and the little shipling, as in the days of the 
old Norsemen, only goes under the threatening billow to 
come up again, intact, like a sea-bird washing her plumage. 
The hardiest soldier on the battle-field never exhibits loftier 
daring than is habitually displayed by the men who sail in 
those half-naked crafts. Truly sang the bard, and as it 
might seem with a peculiar reference to those who navigate 
these barks, — 

" Illi robur et aes triplex 
Circa pectus erat, qui fragilem truci 
Commisit pelago ratem 
Primus." ***** 

As to the AMOUNT of the population in these counties, I 
would remark that that of the County of Londonderry is 
about two hundred thousand, and that of Donegal about two 
hundred and fifty thousand. 

Of the climate of the district with respect to which I am 
writing, you will expect me to say something. Of course, 
in the fifty-fifth degree of north latitude, and thereabout, 
very warm sunshine is never to be expected, and, accord- 



AND THE BRITISH ISLANDS. 289 

ingly, all this summer, I have not found woolen' garments in 
the smallest degree uncomfortable. The fact is, the heat of 
some days of the Indian summer of Pennsylvania or New 
York would be here thought unusually warm. There are 
also, in the summer, a great many rainy days which, though 
they give greenness to the fields, make the weather unplea- 
sant. And, in winter, deep snows fall, though they seldom 
lie for more than two or three days. Also, I would remark 
that if the heats of summer be inconsiderable, the cold of 
the winter is always very moderate. The mean summer heat 
is about 58°, and that of the winter about 38°. When you 
compare 58° with 16°, the latter the summer heat of Fah- 
renheit's thermometer, and more especially with 90° and 
100°, the heat often in Pennsylvania, and when you compare 
38° with 32°, the latter the freezing point in said thermo- 
meter, and more especially with 8° or 10° below zero and 
20° and 25° above zero, this being the range of winter cold 
usual in Pennsyvania, you will at once perceive the medium 
character of the climate. But, though the summer is so 
slightly warm, the tenderest plants, — the arbutus, lauresti- 
nus, and myrtle, — grow admirably; and the agapanthus and 
fuschia, so genial is the moderate winter, stand the winter 
cold and thrive well. As to the weather just at this time,* I 
would remark that it is quite pleasant, and that just now 
some few persons are reaping ; this harvest, however, being 
one unusually early. Before dropping the subject of climate, 
I would say a word as to the appearance of the sky. Here 
it is always overspread with clouds, which circumstance gives 
to the face of nature a sombre and gloomy aspect when con- 
trasted with the brightness of more sunny lands. Never- 
theless such is the perpetual shifting of the drapery over- 
head that, when one, who has lived in a warm climate, 
remembers the unchanging sameness and wearisome mono- 
tony of a sky ever cloudless and bright, he cannot have any 
other feelings than those of delight when here he views the 
ever-moving sea of clouds above him, varying unceasingly its 
fantastic shapes. Indeed this variety may be fairly balanced 
against the brightness of more southern countries, and more 
than compensates for the almost dismal obscurity which 
sometimes in this hazy cloud-land broods over all things. 

* The close of August and beginning of September. 
24 



290 TRAVELS IN FRANCE 

With respect to the dwellings of the people, I observe 
that these are, to some extent, accommodated to the external 
condition of those who occupy them ; though this is less the 
case here than in the United States, owing to the fact that 
here even rich men frequently do not possess the fee simple 
of the soil which they till, and men nowhere will build ex- 
pensive houses on other people's land. The laborer occu- 
pies a low, one-story tenement of stone, with hard-baked 
earthen floor, with three or four small windows, (each of 
about four, or occasionally six panes of glass,) with two 
apartments, (a kitchen and a room,) and with a thatched 
or sometimes slated roof The farmer of the poorer sort 
occupies a house of the same kind as that I have described, 
only larger ; while the large farmer occupies one with an 
entry or hall, a large kitchen, two large rooms lighted by 
windows that are often quite large, three or four small rooms, 
and, over one part of the dwelling, a second story ; or he 
sometimes occupies a slated two-story house. And the 
large landed proprietor dwells in a large mansion or castle, 
— as it may happen, — situated among woodlands, graveled 
avenues, gardens and orchards, smooth-shaven lawns, and 
large, rich fields enclosed with carefully dressed quick-set 
hedges ; a river, rivulet, small lake, or an indentation of some 
bay, being within view. Such are the dwellings to be met 
with in the country. In the towns, there is always a number of 
large and strongly built houses such as we find in the towns 
of the United States, only often more substantially built, 
and covered with slates instead of wooden shingles. These, 
however, are often in close propinquity with such habita- 
tions as I have described as characteristic of the rural 
neighborhoods. 

As to the food of the people, I remark that it varies with 
the tastes and pecuniary means of families ; a thing to be 
expected as of course. The food of servants employed in 
farmers' families is somewhat as follows : for breakfast, por- 
ridge, (that is, oatmeal-mush,) and milk, with potatoes and 
oatmeal-bread ; for dinner, potatoes, milk, oatmeal-bread, 
and fleshmeat ; and for supper, the same nearly as for break- 
fast, only that flummery, (an article made from the siftings 
of oatmeal, soured and fermented in vats,) is substituted for 
porridge. Children fare nearly as do the employees ; though 
the heads of households live a little more luxuriously, add- 
ing, to the above bills of fare, wheaten-bread and tea. As 



AND THE BRITISH ISLANDS. 291 

to the wealthy and the great, they can live as luxuriously as 
they choose ; their patrician purses giving them, when they 
will it, — 

"A table richly spread, in regal mode r 
With dishes piled, and meats of noblest sort 
And savor, — beasts of chase, or fowl of game, — 
(In pastry built, or from the spit, or boiled,) 
Gris-amber steamed; all fish, from sea or shore, 
Freshet or purling brook, of shell or fin, 
And exquisite name." 

Yet the simple food of the hard-working laborer seems to 
suit the human system quite as well as all the rich viands of 
the opulent epicure ; at least he looks altogether as healthy, 
and ordinarily is as strong as his luxuriously fed neighbor. 

As to the curiosities of the region from which I am ad- 
dressing you, I observe that, so far as I am aware, they are 
not very numerous. There are, however, some things to 
which I will briefly direct your attention. On the northern 
coast of Donegal County, west of Mulroy Bay, there is a 
district named Doe. In it, where the North Atlantic rolls 
in its billows, there is a rock on the verge of the deep ; in 
which rock there is a hole slanting upward. The waves 
roll into the cavity constituting the lower part of this hole, 
and this more particularly at a certain stage of the tide, and 
when the sea is angry aad raised ; compressing and pushing 
before them a large quantity of air, which having no other 
vent than said huge rock-tube rushes up it, producing a 
powerful suction, and carrying along a great mass of water, 
— this watery mass being thrown to a great height in the 
atmosphere, and scattered over the neighboring land. This 
strange piece of natural water-machinery is called Doe-gun. 
I have heard its hoarse mutterings and deep, hollow sighs, 
before a storm, (at which time it is known that the air is in a 
state favorable to the transmission of sounds,) twenty miles. 
But I remark that just lately an attempt was made to stop 
the aperture, though without success, the next storm burst- 
ing through all impediments, and, while tearing through 
these, widening the mouth of the gun so that the report 
cannot henceforth be heard to near so great a distance as 
formerly. I would remark that the spouting cave on the 
western coast of lona would seem to be something of the 
same character. Again, on the County Derry side of the 



292 TRAVELS IN FRANCE 

Bann, at a considerable distance from the river, and several 
miles from Coleraine, I have seen a huge Druidical stone, of 
the kind of stones named cromlechs. This cromlech stands 
among some dwarf oaks, and is poised on three stones as 
supports. It must weigh very many tons ; and how the 
Druids succeeded in moving it, so as to place under it its 
supports, is to me dark. Perhaps, however, this huge rock 
was placed there by Nature in one of her vagaries, that the 
soil was gradually dug away, and that the stones pillaring 
it up were placed, during the process of the removal of the 
clay, where they stand. It is well known that the cromlech 
is mostly put in a Druidical circle, and, since in northern 
Europe it is called a blood-stone, it is inferred that each 
one was a Druidical altar. Again, in the southern region 
of Donegal there is a lake of about nine miles in circumfer- 
ence, named Lough Derg, which has be«n so long visited, 
as a place of pilgrimage, by Catholics, that it ought not to 
be passed by. Indeed, a very learned book, now lying before 
me, incidentally mentions a French Ambassador to Scotland 
visiting it three hundred and ten years ago. It is said even 
now to be sometimes visited by as many as eighteen thou- 
sand devotees in a year. In an islet of this lake, one hun- 
dred and twenty-six yards long by forty-four broad, there is a 
cave of sixteen feet in length, of two in width, and of such a 
height that a man cannot stand erect in it. While all things 
connected with Lough Derg are held in great reverence by 
the multitude, it is this islet and this cavern that are the 
chief seats of sanctity. And for nearly fourteen hundred 
years they have sustained this character, having been the 
theatre of wonders and prodigies as early as the days of the 
younger Patricius ; and even now, in connection with them, 
are supposed to be performed the most extraordinary mira- 
cles of healing that can be dreamed of. Again, in the line 
of curiosities, the circumstance is deserving of being noticed 
that, in a remote part of the County of Donegal, some red 
deer are still to be found. These animals, once exceedingly 
numerous in Irish forests and mountains, are now, in the 
island, nearly extinct. Some few, however, are still to be found 
around the lakes of Killarney in Kerry, in a remote district of 
Cork, at Shanbally in Tipperary, and, as I have just men- 
tioned, in one neighborhood in the wild parts of Donegal. — 
Moreover, ( and the only thing under this head, in addition 



AND THE BRITISH ISLANDS. 293 

to what I have said, to which I will refer,) the numerous 
old castles spread over this district are worthy of considera- 
ble attention. Thus, there are still to be seen, oq the sum- 
mit of a small mountain rising from the southern shore of 
Lough Swilly, the remains of that old Castle called Aileiich, 
(the Eagle's Nest,) once the palace of the princes of this 
part of the North of Ireland, who, in it, dwelt from heathen 
times down to the beginning of the twelfth century, when 
the monarch Murkertach destroyed it, endeavoring, in his 
spite, to carry away the very stones on his pack-horses. 
Then there are the remains of many old Danish forts, as also 
of many old castles which, though built a very long time 
after the destruction of the one just spoken of, have been 
long in ruins. The Danish forts, (or raths, as they were 
called,) were always erected on the tops of hills, and in sight 
of each other, so that, in case of a rising of the Hibernians 
against their Scandinavian conquerors, signals might be 
given, in a brief time, to the entire body of Scandinavian 
settlers. The oldest, after the Eagle's Nest, of the old 
ruined castles that I saw, (it having probably been raised in 
one of the reigns of the Henrys,) was that of the O'Dohertys, 
— the ancient proprietors of Ennishowen, — which .was de- 
stroyed, in 1608, in consequence of the young chief. Sir 
Cahir O'Doherty, then only in his twentieth year, having 
seized the stronghold of Derry, and massacred the garrison 
therein ; a deed perpetrated by him partly in revenge for a 
blow given him by its governor, and partly from his sympa- 
thy with the refugee earls, Tyrone and Tyrconnel. Many 
castles, but of a later age, the days of Elizabeth and the 
First James, still stand. Not far from St. Johnstown, be- 
tween Derry and Lififord, stands Mongevlin Castle, in which 
James II. was entertained during his presence at the siege 
of Derry. Then Castledoe stands about three miles from 
Dunfannahy, still a comfortable, as it is a spacious mansion. 
This old edifice has quite a history connected with it. We 
find it to have been in existence in the reign of Elizabeth. 
It is matter of history that, in 1603, it was occupied for the 
Viceroy by a garrison of one hundred soldiers. Four or five 
years subsequent to this, in the brief insurrection that then 
took place in the counties with respect to which I am 
writing, it was captured by certain of the hostile septs. Of 
it, in this period of its history, Sir John Davies says, in a 

24* 



294 TRAVELS IN FRANCE 

letter written in August, 1608, that it was the strongest 
hold in all the Province of Ulster, but that it had lately sur- 
rendered to the Marshal, (Sir Richard Wingfield, Marshal 
of the Army,) after having received one hundred blows of 
the demi-cannon. Amid the tragical transactions of 1641, 
it was abandoned by the Protestants, (who had had the pos- 
session of it,) but was subsequently, after a brief interval, 
recovered by them. It was here, in the summer of 1642, 
that that eminent soldier, Owen O'Neil, landed, when return- 
ing from the Spanish and Imperial service, to take part in the 
civil war commencing, at that time, in Ireland. In 1650, 
it was in consequence of one thousand men having been sent 
to reduce it, (and at the same time to collect provisions,) 
while Colonel Yenables brought one thousand men to 
strengthen the English Parliamentary army under Coate, 
that MacMahon, at the head of the larger portion of the 
relics of Owen 'Neil's army, — O'Neil having died the year 
before, — ^lost the sanguinary battle of Letterkenny. And, 
during the wars of. the British Revolution and while Derry 
was besieged by the army of James, it was held for Wil- 
liam III. ; being a place furnishing a safe retreat to distin- 
guished^adherents of the revolution, and by means of which 
a communication by shipping was kept up, by the Whigs 
of the North of Ireland, with the sister island. I would 
add that though these counties are full of old castellated 
structures, almost all of which have some historical associa- 
tions linked with them, what I have said must suffice as to 
such things. 

Of the towns in the counties with respect to which I am 
writing to you, the most important are Derry, Coleraine, 
Magherafelt, Maghera, Newtonlimavaddy, and Dungiven, in 
the County of Derry, and Liff'ord, Ballyshannon, Letterkenny, 
Rathmelton, Donegal, Raphoe, Buncranna, and Dunfannahy, 
in the County of Donegal. Of any of all these towns, I will 
not, in particular say anything, except in relation to the 
place from which I now write to you, the City of Derry, 
which may be regarded as the capital of both counties. 

Derry, or Londonderry, stands on the north bank of the 
River Poyle, at the head of navigation for large shipping. 
The number of its inhabitants is about twenty thousand, and 
it is a place highly commercial in proportion to its popula- 
tion. It is situated on the top of a considerable hill, and is 



AND THE BRITISH ISLANDS. 295 

surrounded with what was once a strong wall, though now 
decayed from age. Around most of the wall, (which is bas- 
tioned,) a carriage might drive, and, on the side of the city 
most exposed to an enemy's fire, two carriages might easily 
pass each other. This wall, which furnishes a noble prome- 
nade, is, I suppose, about a mile in circuit. On it are now 
only to be seen two pieces of ordnance, these lying on the bas- 
tion facing where had been the main camp of the army of the 
last of the Stuarts. In the centre of the space enclosed is a con- 
siderable square paved, and surrounded by excellent houses, 
which square is named the Diamond ; and from it four main 
streets lead to the four gates by which the city is entered, — 
Ship Quay Street, and Bishop's Street, which are in a straight 
line, being at right angles with Ferry Quay Street, and Butch- 
er's Street, which, the one with the other, also form a 
straight line. These are the four main streets, and they are 
well built ; Ship Quay Street being as well built as any one 
of the best streets on either continent. The other streets of 
the city, both within and without the walls, are also respec- 
tably built. Though there are no superb edifices there are 
several very good and substantial ones. The cathedral, a 
Gothic pile without transepts, built in 1633, (having been 
reared, if I mistake not, to succeed a church built in connec- 
tion with the Monastery of Doire-Calgaich, founded by Co- 
lumb-kil about 546,) stands first. Its spire is very lofty and 
gives the city, to one approaching it, along with other things 
that contribute to the same eft'ect, a grand appearance. 
The bishop's palace is a spacious and substantial edifice. 
The court-house and jail are fine structures. And at a little 
below the city, situated in a large lawn and on the bank of 
the river, is the edifice of the high-school, one of the best, as 
it is one of the best endowed, classical and mathematical 
seminaries in either island The stranger visiting Derry 
will view with attention the bridge built of wood, a thousand 
and sixty-eight feet in length, and, in the centre, with a swi- 
vel arch for the passage of small ships. Strange to say, un- 
like similar structures with you, it is without roof; and thus 
must be exceedingly liable to rot from the weather. He will 
also look with interest at the monument erected, about thirty 
years ago, in honor of Governor Walker, who was a main 
defender of the city in 1689. — With respect to the history of 
Derry, I will mention only a few of the more important facts. 



296 TRAVELS IN FRANCE 

As early as 546, (as I stated just above,) a monastery was 
founded by Columb-kil where Derry now stands ; around 
which, no doubt, soon grew up a rude town. Six hundred 
years after this, in 1158, this town was erected into the seat 
of a regular Episcopal See. Again, it was converted, in the 
reign of Queen Elizabeth, into a plantation town, by the 
Honorable Sir Henry Docwra who fortified it, and not long 
after this, in May, 1603, we learn that the garrison main- 
tained in it amounted to three hundred and fifty men. Next, 
a little later than the date just given, in 1608, when- Sir 
George Paulet was governor, it and its castle were surprised 
by the young chief of Ennishowen, (of whom I spoke above,) 
who took them by storm, slaying the garrison, and destroy- 
ing everything that Docwra had done. Subsequently, it 
was re-built and re-fortified by certain London .societies 
which, to the old Celtic name, prefixed that of their own 
great metropolis. Since that time, it has sustained two 
sieges. In it, in 1649, Sir Charles Coote's army, which had 
espoused the side of the Rump Parliament, was besieged, 
for five months, by the Presbyterian party of the surrounding 
country, and this though Coote himself was a ruling elder 
in Derry : at the end of this time, however, the siege was 
raised, the general and officers of the beleaguered force, hav- 
ing entered into stipulations with Owen O'Neil, (the Gene- 
ral of the Catholics,) who came to their aid with four thou- 
sand foot and three hundred horse, and compelled the in- 
vestment to be abandoned. And, following this siege at the 
distance of forty years, in 1689, — having declared for the 
Prince of Orange and the revolution. — it was besieged, from 
April 18th to the 31st of July, by the army of James IL, con- 
sisting of Jacobite Irish, and of a body of French soldiery, 
in alliance. This latter siege, on account of the vast inter- 
ests at stake, the strength of the besieging army, and the 
bravery and almost incredibly patient endurance of the evils 
of war, pestilence, and famine, on the part of the besieged, 
is one of the most memorable on record. 

In writing to you in relation to the two counties of which 
I have already said so much, I ought not entirely to pass 
without notice the names of such men born in them, as have 
risen to some degree of celebrity in the world. Situated in 
a remote part of the British Islands, this region has been 
little prolific in men of this sort ; yet there have been some 



AND THE BRITISH ISLANDS. 29 1 

few who deserve mention. In very remote times, he having 
been born about a.d. 521, here Columb-ld], {t. i. Colamb of the 
Churches,) had his origin. From a comparison of the best 
authorities, it would seem that he first saw the light at the 
little place called Gartin near the town of Letterkenny. Few 
men have been more useful in the world, or given more 
deeply the impress of their own characters to their own and 
to future generations, than this man ; the apostle of a com- 
paratively pure Christianity to the Highlands, and Western 
Isles, of Scotland, (the inhabitants of which, before his day, 
were Pagans,) and the founder of the celebrated monastery 
and school of lona ; to which isle, — from him named, also, 
Icolmkill — in their deep reverence for his memory, (and of 
which I speak as being a testimony to his vast influence,) 
the lords of the Isles, four Irish kings, eight Norwegian 
kings, a French king, and forty-eight Scottish kings, had 
their bodies borne to be buried. It is worthy of remark 
that Duncan, whose fame has been spread all over the world 
by Shakspeare's tragedy of Macbeth, was the last Scottish 
king whose mortal remains, (in the eleventh century,) were, — 
in the words of the great poet just named, — 

" Carried to Colraeskill ; 
The sacred storehouse of his predecessors, 
And guardian of their bones." 

Passing from these very far-off days over a very long inter- 
val, (of more than eleven hundred years,) I would next men- 
tion the name of a man whose memory must always be asso- 
ciated with the planting on the Western Continent of an 
influential branch of the Christian Church. I speak of the 
Rev. Francis McKemy, the first Presbyterian minister who 
settled in America. This venerable man, who was a na- 
tive of the County of Donegal, where he was licensed, and 
where, as a licentiate, he preached for a brief time, went 
across the Atlantic toward the close of the reign of 
Charles II. Families of the name of McKemy still reside 
here near the Hamlet of Ballindrate, (which is about two 
miles from Lififord,) and at Morus Ferry, beside the Hamlet 
of Rosnakil, on the northwestern side of the mouth af Swilly 
Bay. It is likely that these two sets of people, judging from 
the name, were originally the same; though their connection 
must have been far back, since all tradition of it has been 



298 TRAVELS IN FRANCE 

lost. They are very ancient inhabitants of the region in 
which they dwell ; so old that, on inquiry of one of the Mo- 
rns Ferry McKemys, I learned there was among them no 
tradion of their ancestors having lived anywhere else but 
where they are now living. Indeed, it is not impossible that, 
of the various races now inhabiting the North of Ireland, 
they belong to the oldest. At all events, I have never heard 
of families, either in North or South Britain, which bore 
this name. After the man of whom I have just been speak- 
ing, I may, by way of contrast, mention John Toland and 
George Farquhar. Toland, who was born in 1669, was a man 
of vast erudition, which, it is to be lamented, he perverted 
to the support of irreligion and infidelity. Yet, by his bio- 
graphy of Milton, he performed such a service to literature 
as should not be soon forgotten. Farquhar, born in this 
city in 16T8, is celebrated as one of the first who succeeded 
as a writer of miscellanies, and more especially as the richest 
in invention, the sprightliest, and the wittiest of comic poets. 
After these men, I will only speak of one other, a military 
man, Greneral Richard Montgomery, who fell, in the war of 
the American Revolution, in his attempt, on behalf of the 
colonies whose commission he bore, to take Quebec by storm. 
This man, who, as a soldier, was not surpassed in bravery 
and skill, was born at Convoy, (not far from Raphoe,) at the 
family seat of the Montgomerys. His brother. Colonel 
Montgomery, long represented the County of Donegal in the 
Irish Parliament. And a branch of the family, of which he 
was a member, still owns the fine property which had been 
possessed by his ancestors. 

With respect to thQ state of education in that large dis- 
trict of which this city may be regarded as the capital, (to 
wit, Derry and Donegal,) I observe that it is about what it 
is in other parts of the North of Ireland. There are com- 
mon schools everywhere ; some of them excellent, and others 
very defective. Especially are the school-houses often 
shamefully lacking in their architecture and accommoda- 
tions. Yet the schools are always sustained throughout the 
year, and the school teachers are usually, instead of leading 
lives of vagrancy, as is often the case in America, perma- 
nently kept employed in the same school. With respect to 
the higher branches, there is perhaps no district in the world 
more favored, on the whole, than this. The high-schools of 



AND THE BRITISH ISLANDS. 299 

this city and Raphoe are unsurpassed. There are, also, 
several excellent academies in other places. There are, 
however, some capital defects in these seminaries, to which I 
would make reference. One is, not that too much attention 
is paid to the Latin and Greek classics, but that they are 
allowed to take the foreway of mathematics ; the knowledge 
of words being thus put before that of things. Another de- 
fect is that Hebrew is scarcely attended to at all. Also, I think 
that general knowledge should be more attended to, con- 
junctly with speaking and writing in the English tongue. 

In connection with what I have said of the region that I 
have been telling you about, you will permit me to travel 
somewhat out of my way to say something of a certain an- 
cient district of great historical celebrity, lying to the east 
of the counties in relation to which I am addressing you ; a 
district through which I have journeyed with much interest. 
The territory, of which I speak, consisted of the northwest, 
north, and part of the south, of what is now the County of 
Antrim, and was, in very remote days, named D^lriada. 
This territory was separated from the more eastern of the 
counties that I have made the subject of this epistle by only 
the River Bann, and had with them a very intimate inter- 
course. It is well known to all readers of history that there 
was also another and more famous Dalriada in Caledonia, 
comprehending Argyle, Cantyre, and the adjacent territo- 
ries, with most of the Western Isles. The inhabitants of 
both the Dalriadas belonged to that particular race of peo- 
ple known, in very early times, as the Scoti, These people 
were unknown, or at least they had not attained any promi- 
nence, in Ireland, about the middle of the second century, or 
they would have been named in Ptolemy's map. Neither 
were they known in Scotland in the time of Agricola, (in the 
first century,) else they would have been mentioned by Taci- 
tus in his biography of this commander. They are frst 
mentioned in classical history by Ammianus Marcellinus 
about the year 340. The question has been greatly dis- 
cussed as to which side of the North Channel has the better 
claim to be regarded as their first seat in the British Islands. 
In regard to this point, which, however, is of very trifling 
moment, I would make only a few cursory remarks. First, 
all the traditions and historical records of the Scoti of North 
Britain trace back their origin im Ireland, while none of the 



300 TRAVELS IN FRANCE 

traditions of the Hibernian Scoti refer to their having come 
from any part of Britain, hut from the continent. Secondly, 
the first seat of the princes of the Caledonian Scoti, with 
their people, was in Argyleshire, opposite the Irish Dalriada, 
and not on the eastern side of Scotland ; a circumstance 
pointing to Ireland, rather than to the continent, for their 
origin. Again, Scotland was not called Scotia till after the 
year 1000, but usually Caledonia and Albania, while Ireland 
was spoken of, from the third till the eleventh century, by 
this appellation ; and it is not unreasonable to suppose that 
that is the first seat of a people, which is the prior home of 
their name. That it was Ireland, and not Scotland, that, dur- 
ing this time, was denominated Scotia, I will cite only a single 
proof to establish, and that proof only a partial one. Al- 
cuin, the preceptor of Charlemange, in his "Life of Willi- 
brord," speaks of him as one "to whom fertile Britain gave 
birth, and whom learned Ireland instructed in sacred 
studies;" and, repeating this statement in other words, he 
says, " Fertile Britain, as I have already noticed in my verse, 
was his parent soil, the country of the Scots his noble in- 
structress." Besides, — as another argument to prove that 
the Scoti of Scotland emigrated from Ireland, — I cite Bede, 
(born about the year 672,) who affirms the thing in so many 
words, and he had means of information which place his 
authority far above all the reasonings of any modern : he 
says of Ireland, in his Ecclesiastical History, "This is, pro- 
perly speaking, the country of the Scots : emigrating from 
this, they added in Britain a third nation to the Britons and 
Picts." According to this view, the race tliat finally rose 
to have the supremacy in North Britain, (and from which the 
race of monarchs that now rules over the British Islands 
draws its remote descent,) was a colony that came to Scot- 
land, from Dalriadain Ireland, about the middle of the third 
century ; which colony being strengthened, about the year 
503, by another colony from the same country, formed itself 
into an independent kingdom, the people of which were 
called the Albanian Scots or Caledonian Dalriads. And 
here let me remark that, according to the antiquarian lore 
of the Scotch, the stone of which I told you in ray letter in 
reference to Westminster Abbey, (that stone weighing, as I 
judge from looking at it cursorily, five or six pounds, which 
was carried oif by Edward C. from Scone, and over which 



AND THE BRITISH ISLANDS. 301 

the kings are still crowned,) was taken, by the colonists, 
along with them, in the second emigration of the Dalriads, 
spoken of just now. If there be any truth in this story, it 
must originally have been, to the wild men who once dwelt 
in the neighboring county of Antrim, an object of worship 
in those days when fetichism prevailed among them ; and, 
perhaps, at first, what was alluded to in the prince being 
crowned upon it, was that he ruled jure divino, — the stone 
beneath his coronation chair being the deity from which he 
claimed to derive this high authority. 

It now only remains that I give you a succinct view of the 
history of these counties. 

In very remote days, the district composed of the counties 
of Derry and Donegal was the seat of a race of princes. 
As Emania (near the modern Armagh) was the seat of the 
prince who ruled over the whole or most of the modern 
Ulster, so Aileiich, (which I above defined to mean the 
Eagle's Nest,) situated on a small mountain on the southern 
shore of Swilly Bay, was the seat of those princes who were 
called the Hy-Nials, and who ruled, whether, with an indepen- 
dent or a subordinate sway I do not pretend to decide, over 
at least a part of the territory of the shires concerning which 
I have been writing to you ; and this from a date reaching 
far back into the days of Paganism. Of the state, for very 
many centuries, of this region of the island, and of the events 
by which its condition was affected, we know scarcely any- 
thing beyond a few prominent facts. Yet some of these are 
very important, and deserve from the historian, indeed de- 
mand from him, a notice. 

The first thing that is worthy of being mentioned is the 
general introduction of Christianity. This occurred a little 
before the close of the fifth century, and was mainly owing 
to the labors of the younger Patricius, the nephew, it is said, 
of the great apostle of Ireland. Soon after this, — not much 
more than half a century after, — occurred the ever-to-be-re- 
membered missionary labors of Columb-kil, (whom we above 
mentioned as a native of this region,) among the inhabitants 
of North Britain. 

Next, our attention is drawn to the ravages of the Norse- 
men who, about the close of the eighth or the beginning of the 
ninth century, began their long-continued inroads on these 
coasts ; seeking not only plunder, but also tl^e destruction of 

25 



302 TRAVELS IN FRANCE 

every vestige of Christianity, and frequently establishing 
settlements in the places plundered by them. 

Nothing meets us, worthy of being mentioned, from this 
time down to 1134, when occurred the invasion of O'Brian 
of Munster, who completely vanquished the chief that then 
reigned in Aileiich, and entirely laid waste this palace so 
that it never was rebuilt. 

Not long after this castigation of the Hy-Nials by the men 
of Munster, occurred the first invasion of the northern part 
of Ireland by the Anglo-Normans, who, in lltt, under De 
Courcy, subdued most or all of the country to the east of the 
River Bann. Nevertheless, they seem never to have entered 
the territory with respect to which I am writing. 

Nearly thirty years after this, in 1203, occurred a some- 
thing which, though unimportant in itself, deserves a record, 
because of the celebrated place which was the theatre on 
which it happened. Difficulties, of an ecclesiastical nature, 
having turned up among the residents of lona, a small ex- 
pedition was sent thither at the instigation of the bishops of 
Derry and Raphoe with their clergy ; which expedition was, 
of course, successful. 

I said above that the Anglo-Normans had left the coun- 
ties of Derry and Donegal entirely unmeddled with, in their 
invasion of the North, but, though this was the case, the 
chiefs of these counties seem to have given to the Viceroy 
of the English king a partial and qualified allegiance. Thus, 
in 1303, we find a general convention of the great men of 
Ireland assembled, (regular parliaments having not yet come 
into use,) in attendance on which we discover O'Donell,- — 
styled Duke of Tyrconnel, — a thing that clearly indicates, 
along with other circumstances, that the territory from which 
he came had yielded a submission of some sort to the central 
government. 

From this time, little, in the series of events in these coun- 
ties, adapted to afford materials to the annalist, is to be met 
with till the reign of Henry VIII. In it commenced the 
Protestant Reformation in Ireland, (as had also been the 
case in England,) Dr. George Brown, Archbishop of Dublin, 
having, in 1536, brought the Falian Parliament to discard 
the supremacy of the Pope. To this enactment O'Donell, 
in behalf of his territory, gave in his adhesion in 1542 ; also 
agreeing to persevere in yielding allegiance to the monarch, 



AND THE BRITISH ISLANDS. 303 

(who hitherto had been merely styled lord-paramount,) 
under his newly assumed title of King of Ireland. He, at 
the same time, had bestowed on him the title of Earl of 
Tyrconnel. The concession as to religion, on the part of 
O'Donell, was, however, far from being ratified by his vassals 
and by the clergy of the region under his jurisdiction or influ- 
ence. Thus, in 1545, we find Robert Waucop, who, in 1541, 
had introduced the order of Jesuits into the island, bringing 
the French Ambassador to Scotland into private communi- 
cation, in Donegal, with O'Doherty, one of O'DonelPs vas- 
sals; (as well as with the Earl of Tyrone;) the subject 
discussed between them being a French invasion of the 
country. And, in 1550, Tyrconnel himself, having receded 
from his engagement to the royal government, pledged, with 
a French emissary, his faith in an alliance with France. In 
these circumstances, the territory, with regard- to which I 
am writing, remained in a state approaching to indepen- 
dence in relation to the central authority, so that Tyrcon- 
nel never appeared in Parliament, and that the bishops of 
Derry and Raphoe did not acknowledge the sovereign as 
patron, and were not summoned, at least for a long time, to 
take their seats in that body. Indeed, the clergy remained 
as zealous for Rome as ever, and this perhaps without an 
exception. In accordance with this state of things, Donald 
Magonell, Bishop of Raphoe, occupied, in 1563, a seat in 
the Council of Trent. At length, the patience of the Vice- 
roy being worn out by the long-continued contumacy of 
Tyrconnel and his brother chiefs, and a general revolt being 
thought by no means improbable, he, in 1588, by a ruse un- 
doubtedly at once dishonorable and impolitic, siezed on Tyr- 
connel's son, and immured him as a hostage in the Castle of 
Dublin. Thence, soon escaping, this young man quickly 
brought his father's territory, and all, besides, whom he 
could influence, into an alliance with the Earl of Tyrone, 
the great champion of the prescriptive rights of the sept- 
chiefs against the gradually extending authority of the 
king's representative and of Parliament. Upon this Tyrone, 
thus strengthened, at once assumed an attitude of defiance in 
relation to the central government. In this way began a civil 
war which spread itself over the three provinces of Ulster, 
Munster, and Connaught, more especially the two former 
provinces, and which lasted, with varied fortunes, not far 



304 TRAVELS IN FRANCE 

from six years. And, strange to say, when it did terminate, 
the insurgent chiefs were left in possession of all their lands 
and honors. Indeed, its main result was the total devasta- 
tion and depopulation of the North. 

Not very long after this pacification, (only about three or 
four years after,) Tyrconnel, in connection with the old leader 
of the Ulster men, Tyrone, again joined in a treasonable 
league against the Yice-regal government. This plot, how- 
ever, being discovered, he fled, in 1601, along with Tyrone, 
to the continent. And in the very next year occurred the 
rebellion of the chief of Ennishowen. 

In consequence of the course of events, of which I have 
been giving an account,— -the flight and subsequent out- 
lawry of the Earl of Tyrconnel, and the rebellion of the 
Ennishowen chief, — very many thousand acres of land in 
Derry and Donegal were put at the disposal of the crown. 
And from this time a new order of things is to be dated. 
This region had never been thickly inhabited, and the late 
war, with its wasting desolations, had carried off arlarge por- 
tion of the small population. In these circumstances there 
was an abundance of room for the introduction of English, 
Scotch, Welch, and Palian settlers. Accordingly a new 
population was added to tiie old. Farmhouses, mills, man- 
sions, castles, villages, and towns, were built. Shires were 
erected, sheriffs were appointed, and courts of law esta- 
blished. Along with the new settlers came the Reformed 
religion, and academies and schools, (Romanism, at the 
same time, and not till then, having been completely dises- 
tablished,) and many persons of the old population, — espe- 
cially from the smaller and oppressed septs, — fell in with the 
new order of things, there being, of those who did so, some 
few of the clergy. From this time these counties have pos- 
sessed a flourishing agriculture, and flourishing towns and 
boroughs, with a thrifty and happy race of inhabitants, in an 
equal proportion, with almost any other territory of equal 
extent in the British Islands. The fact is this was the great 
crisis in their history, and between about 1609 and about 
1625, (the latter year being that in which James I. died,) 
was laid the foundation of the character which they have 
since sustained. 

In the war which commenced with the terrible and guilty 
slaughter of 1641, the population here, of all descents, and 



AND THE BRITISH ISLANDS. 305 

both of the Protestant and Roman Catholic religions, was 
very active ; the Catholics sustaining the party of the Con- 
federate Catholics, and the Protestants sympathizing mostly 
not with the Royalists headed by the Marquis of Ormond, but 
with the party in Ireland that connected itself directly with 
the English Parliamentarians, Indeed, during this war these 
counties were the theatre of several severe battles, — espe- 
cially that fought near Letterkenny, on the 21st of June, 
1650, between the English Parliamentarians and the relics of 
Owen O'Neal's army, — of innumerable skirmishes, and of an 
important siege, that of Derry, above spoken of. 

In the wars of the British Revolution, near the close of 
the seventeenth century, this region was, for a considerable 
time, the grand theatre on which the belligerent parties 
struggled for the supremacy. The Protestant population, 
which had now come to possess the almost entire control, 
were the zealous advocates, with exceptions by no means 
very numerous, of the Revolution, while the Catholics gene- 
rally, from a recollection of the confiscations of ninety years 
before, felt but little zeal for the house of Stuart. In these 
circumstances, the Protestants made that defence of the City 
of Londonderry against the powerful army of Jacobite Irish, 
and of French, sent against it by King James ; which de- 
fence has forever associated the name of Londonderry with 
whatever is courageous, patiently enduring, and honorable. 
Nor was this great siege the sole military event that in these 
counties occurred. In almost every neighborhood there 
was a skirmish, and sometimes a battle. 

Again, after the lapse of ninety years, when Ireland was 
threatened with invasion by the King of France, and when no 
regular army could be spared for its protection, this district 
of the North was one most forward in the island in assist- 
ing to muster that army of volunteers, which (menace of 
foreign aggression having passed away) did not lay down its 
arms till it had won for the nation an enlargement of religious 
liberty and a complete legislative independence. This army, 
which had its beginning in Belfast, in March, 1778, and which 
did not disband till the March of 1793, and which at one time 
numbered upwards of 150,000 eflective men, is an anomaly 
in the history of armies, having been entirely independent 
of governmental control. Indeed the existence of such an 
armed association cannot be justified on any other ground 

25* 



306 TRAVELS IN FRANCE 

than that the political condition of this country was then 
such as to make her an exception to all general rules. I 
would remark that I have learned from eye-witnesses that, 
among the very last volunteers that ceased from parading, 
were to be found companies in these counties. Nor was 
there anywhere greater reluctance manifested in regard to 
disbanding than was displayed here, this reluctance hawng 
grown out of the still unreformed state of the national repre- 
sentation and out of the illiberality of the laws still on the 
statute book as to the civil rights of those religionists re- 
fusing to be embraced in the Church Establishment. 

It is well known to all acquainted with Irish history that, 
some tijue before the disbanding of the volunteers, another 
association, that became more formidable than the volunteers 
had been, had come into existence, the society of the United 
Irishmen. This celebrated body had its rise in the autumn 
of 1790, in Belfast, and assumed, in the next year, preten- 
sions to nationality by establishing itself in the capital. At 
first it was an open association consisting of affiliated clubs, 
but eventually became, in consequence of persecuting inter- 
ference on the part of the government, an immense concate- 
nation of oath-bound societies holding their meetings only 
in the presence of the members. Into the counties from 
which I write to you, the organization of the United Men 
was not introduced till after the suppression and disarming 
of the volunteers ; but, almost immediately after this, it was 
introduced by some volunteer officers. I may observe that 
it may not be amiss to mention the man, — a man of large 
fortune inherited from his ancestors, — who was the most 
influential agent in this, — Mr. Irveen, — a man of talents 
and .honorable character. 

In 1796, when Hoche's fleet and army, in fulfillment of 
the engagement of the Revolutionary Government of France 
to the Irish Reformers and Revolutionists, sought the shores 
of Ireland, these counties, along with the rest of Ulster, 
were prepared to give him not only an amicable reception, 
but an active co-operation. At that time, a large portion 
of the population were enrolled as the sworn opponents of 
the oligarchical government then in being. The fact is, the 
storm, that scattered the expedition of the republican gene- 
ral, and caused its total failure, was felt by the Irish nation 
generally to be a great misfortune to their island ; and here 



AND THE BRITISH ISLANDS. SOT 

the disappointment of the people, in consequence of the turn 
of affairs referred to, was as great as anywhere else. If 
Hoche had succeeded in landing his army, and if he had 
been supported by a strong army of the Irish Reformers, 
(which, no doubt, would have been the case,) what the re- 
sult of the contest would have been is hard to be conjec- 
tured. gl 

Early in the next year, several men in Donegal and Derry, 
who had been very active in organizing a revolution, left the 
country precipitately. Of these I may name two citizens of 
Derry, William Moore, (a merchaftt,) and Dr. Ferguson, (a 
physician,) who went to America, and the man above named 
who went to France. Also, not very far from the time of 
the flight of these men, there retired, (one of them a little 
before it, and the other a little after,) from the ranks of the 
United Men, two men who had hitherto been adherents of 
the revolutionary movement, — Samuel and Robert Floyd, the 
former a farmer, and the latter bred a lawyer. The retire- 
ment of both these last-named men was in consequence of 
orders being transmitted to them from the heads of the revo- 
lutionary organization, by attempting to comply with which 
they had involved themselves in serious diflQculties, and of 
which, upon mature reflection, they could not approve. 
Robert Floyd gave security for his future loyal behavior, 
and Samuel, (who, as early as January, had had difficulty 
with the neighboring Bench of Magistrates as to his connec- 
tion with this general business,) on the issuing of Lord 
Camden's order, of the 3d of March, for the disarming of the 
disaffected, was disarmed; he, at the same time, ceasing to 
take any part in the proceedings of those maintaining an 
attitude of opposition to the government. Partly as the 
result of these transactions, but mainly in consequence of dis- 
appointment flowing from the failure of Hoche's armament, 
both these counties (either contemporaneously with the oc- 
currences recited, or soon after,) fell off' from all connection 
with the leaders of the United Men in Dublin ; these being 
still intent on urging on a revolution. 

Two or three months, however, after the occurrence of 
some of these things, a letter in relation to some pecuniary 
business of Samuel Floyd was forwarded to Mr. Patterson, 
of Baltimore, who, before leaving Ireland, had been his asso- 
ciate and school-fellow ; which letter was to be forwarded to 



308 TRAVELS IN FRANCE 

France, (to the care of one of the Irish refugees in that 
country,) where the person addressed was understood to be. 
In this accidental way, a correspondence in relation to the 
proceedings of the Irish Reformers was opened from these 
counties with persons in contact with the French Republic, 
a correspondence which, with periods of interruption, did 
not entirely cease till some time subsequent to the death of 
Thomas Russell in 1803 ; the letters from Ireland being sent 
through the mail, (as common letters to the United States,) 
to Mr. Patterson, and those in reply by such means as the 
French government could most conveniently put at the com- 
mand of those persons writing. 

It must have been about the time at which this letter 
reached France, or some time not long either preceding or 
subsequent to it, that, in a memorial of Dr. McNevin of 
Dublin, to the then government of France, Swilly Bay, in 
Donegal, or Oyster Haven, in the south, was recommended 
as the landing-place of any succors sent by the French Re- 
public to Ireland. In recommending Swilly Bay, those, by 
whose direction McNevin made the recommendation, must 
have mainly calculated on the characteristic stubborn hos- 
tility of the people of Derry and Donegal to the corrupt and 
unreformed Irish government of that time, as the source 
from which the foreign force invited would obtain supplies 
and reinforcements, since the clubs of the United Men here 
had been, for some time, with scarcely an exception, dor- 
mant. They knew, however, that the inhabitants of this 
region of Ireland had very extensively been zealous United 
Men, and that from their character, so long as grievances 
remained unredressed, they were not likely to change their 
views. They knew that of the three hundred members of 
the Irish Commons, two hundred and fifteen were still re- 
turned by one hundred and five individuals, and only 
seventy-two by the people; the remaining ^Mr^een belonging 
to the debatable border-land lying between the constituencies 
of the oligarchy and those of the nation. They knew that his 
collar still galled the shoulders of the Dissenter, and that the 
Catholic still clanked his chain. And they knew that to 
these things had been lately added, on the side of the ruling 
party, (a party very weak in numbers, but very strong in 
■political power,) the resorting to a system of coercion to 
support their system of combined corruption and oppression. 



AND THE BRITISH ISLANDS. 309 

Probably it was in consequence of the recommendation, 
in the memorial spoken of, of Swilly Bay, as a suitable har- 
bor for the French expedition to land in, that, in the answer 
returned to the letter on private business, which, I said 
above, had been sent to France by the way of America, it 
was urged that the revolutionary clubs should be revived, 
and that the leading men among the United Men should be 
consulted as to the coming of the French, and pledged to 
march immediately the men under their influence to their 
support. Yielding to these counsels in view of the state of 
public affairs, and of the reasonable prospect of success held 
out to them, (as well as suffering themselves to be impelled 
by the lately assumed personally insulting deportment of the 
hangers-on of the oligarchy,) — but not till after a period of 
reflection, — the two men mentioned above as having retired 
from any connection with the revolutionary organization, 
allowed themselves to be again drawn into the headlong 
torrent of revolutionary proceedings. The clubs were re- 
vived ; (but henceforth, instead of meetings, the members 
were advised with apart;) and the leading United Men in 
the Counties of Donegal and Berry were consulted as to 
the coming of the armament from France. Also, the head 
of the military department of the United Men in Ireland 
opened a correspondence with the chiefs of the revived or- 
ganization, military commissions from this department were 
distributed, and a part of the skeleton of an Irish revolu- 
tionary army, — to co-operate with the force expected from 
France, — was formed. 

So long as Hoche lived he had been the French general 
destined to command the expedition to this island. He died 
in September, 1*797. Shortly after his death, General 
Daendels, at the head of an army from Holland, sought to 
carry assistance to the Irish patriots, (the north, as near 
Belfast as possible, being the point at which he aimed ;) but 
Admiral Duncan's victory (of October 11th of said year) 
entirely frustrated the Dutch attempt. In these circum- 
stances, expectation was turned to the youthful conqueror of 
Italy. That he was urged to come to Ireland, during the 
period of his holding the command of the army intended by 
his government for the invasion of England, is certain ; — to 
which command he was appointed in the latter part of 
1791; — viewing, as he did, the direct invasion of England, 



310 TRAVELS IN FRANCE 

at that time, as too hazardous. That he gave sufficient 
encouragement, at least for a brief time, either during his 
exercise of this command, or previous to entering on it, to 
raise the expectation, in the party thoroughly hostile to the 
oligarchy, that he would come hither, is likewise, to me, cer- 
tain. By letter, through the channel spoken of above, this 
expectation had been, at least in part, originated among the 
Irish people. And in view of this expectation, at the insti- 
gation of the British ministers, he was libeled to the Catho- 
lics of Ireland, in widely spread rumors, as having, during 
the progress of his victories in Italy, seized the Pope by his 
gray hairs, and thus dragged him over the marble floor of 
his palace ; a story that subsequently was more than once 
revived. And, of this idea of his coming hither, thus set 
afloat, he adroitly availed himself, to the perplexing of the 
British cabinet, when he was about to sail for Egypt ; India, 
the Black Sea, the Thames, and Ireland, being all reported 
as each of them the point to which the mysterious armament 
was to sail. In relation to his connection with the affairs 
of Ireland just then, we only know, as to the particulars, 
(and these have been given us but vaguely,) what passed be- 
tween him and Theobald W. Tone; what communications 
soever he had with other Irish refugees, whom he may have 
permitted to wait upon him, they having, so far as I am in- 
formed in regard to the matter, perished through death or 
other casualties, except as to the single general statement 
made by me above. Mr. Tone assured Napoleon that, if he 
would pass to Ireland with an army which, along with the force 
the United Irishmen could raise, should be adequate to the 
liberation of the country, (Tone's opinion was that such a 
force must amount to twenty thousand men,) he would be 
welcomed by a population of four millions. Napoleon, how- 
ever, who had come to view the scheme of Egypt, — whose 
success, he conceived, would render the Mediterranean a 
French lake, — as superior to every other, affected to think, 
by the response that he made, that Tone could only promise 
to him two millions in Ireland. Said he in reply, "Your 
population is but two millions." Further, the light in 
which, through a part of the time referred to in the preced- 
ing remarks, he viewed Ireland, may be gathered from his 
own words to the Executive Directory, " What more do 
you want from the Irish ? They form a powerful diversion 



AND THE BRITISH ISLANDS. 311 

in your fayor." Yet he lived, as we learn from the memoirs 
of Las Casas, to say on St Helena, in relation to his course 
at this exigency, "If, instead of the expedition to Egypt, I 
had undertaken that against Ireland, * * * * what 
could England have done now ? On such chances do the 
destinies of empires depend." 

General Bonaparte sailed for Egypt on May 20, 1798. 
Previous to this, the schemes of the great party opposed, in 
Ireland, to the oligarchy, and to England as the patron and 
defender of that oligarchy, had been fast running to ruin. 
Five hundred thousand men, of whom three hundred thou- 
sand were capable of bearing arms, — more than seventy 
thousand of these, according to a computation made, having 
been trained in the corps of the old volunteers, — had united 
in a sworn league, while, of the disciplined soldiery in active 
service in the country, one-third were favorable to the league ; 
yet all this vast organization, after years of toil and of great 
personal risk, was now, through treachery, about tumbling 
down around the ears of its constructors. On the 12th of 
March, thirteen of the leaders of the United Men in Leinster 
were, on the information of Reynolds of Kilkea Castle, to- 
gether arrested in Dublin, and, on the 19th of May, Lord 
Edward Fitzgerald, the head of the military department of 
the body in Ireland, after receiving a mortal wound, was 
also made prisoner. Though, after this, the project was 
prosecuted under new leaders in the room of those seized 
upon, it had now lost one of the mainsprings of its energy. 
Then followed, on the 23d of May, risings of half-armed 
men in districts of the counties around Dublin. Immediately 
after this beginning, on May 2tth, commenced the terrible 
insurrection of the Southeast. And next, in connection with 
these movements, beginning on the 1th and 8th of June, 
occurred a brief but well-sustained struggle in parts of two 
counties of the Northeast. I may remark that in none of 
these trials of strength between the military and the people 
did the latter look upon themselves as thoroughly beaten ; 
merely going home to gather in the harvest, when they ex- 
pected they would have, by the landing of the French in 
force, (with supplies of arms and amunition,) another oppor- 
tunity to show their prowess. An intelligent loyalist, who 
was an eye-witness, wrote at the time, in relation to them, 
in a letter to a friend, " They are nearly convinced they are 
conquered by fate, not by force." 



312 TRAVELS IN FRANCE 

But, to return to the history of Derry and Donegal from 
this digression; a digression perhaps necessary to make 
their history, at that time, entirely intelligible. These coun- 
ties had remained perfectly tranquil through all these civil 
commotions and the profuse bloodshed growing out of them. 
Yet this was contrary to all the inclinations of the people, 
who were strongly bent on hostilities. Those, however, 
having influence with the members of the league, were ex- 
pecting an armament from France toward the close of the 
summer, and they would not, by yielding to rash counsels, 
anticipate. In the last part of 119t, when Lewins (a secret 
minister of the United Men in Paris) sent to Ireland the 
last communication that he transmitted to his employers 
here, he mentioned in it that the promised succors, — which 
were to be five thousand men and forty thousand stands of 
arms, — would pass over in April ; but, subsequent to this, 
intelligence had been sent to those engaged in preparing for 
the reception of these succors, that they would not come so 
soon, the reason assigned for this change (a change made 
on the prompting of the Irish themselves) being that, if the 
country should be laid waste by war before the harvest had 
been gathered, a famine would ensue, and that poor men, in 
this state of affairs, could not be expected to stay away from 
their families to fight even for the great cause of their coun- 
try. But this second arrangement was also changed, per- 
haps at the instigation of Lord Edward Fitzgerald, who, as 
we learn from the testimony of his first betrayer, Reynolds, 
had expressed, in a conversation of the 11th of March, an 
anxious desire to hasten the invasion, which thing he said he 
could do by his intimacy with Talleyrand Perigord, one of 
the French ministers. I may add that when, at length, the 
French succors did arrive, they arrived in small installments 
and at unexpected times. 

The first succors that crossed reached Ireland on August 
22d, at which time eleven hundred French under Humbert, 
with a supply of arms and of ammunition, landed in the ex- 
treme northwest of the kingdom, in the County of Mayo. 
According to Major O'Keon, an Irishman by birth, and an 
officer in the expedition, this expedition was intended for 
the coast of Donegal. A small force to invade a country 
occupied by an army of one hundred and fifty thousand men, 
were these succors. Yet, with this force, assisted by about 



AND THE BRITISH ISLANDS. 313 

two thousand of the undrilled farmers and laborers of a re- 
mote corner of Connaught, Humbert defeated severely an 
army of four or five thousand men, and marched into the 
very heart of the island. The next body of French sent to 
the aid of the United Irishmen sailed from Brest early in 
September, and arrived, after a voyage of about twelve 
days, in Ireland, at the little Islet of Rutland or Raghlin, 
(which lies east of the larger Islet of Arranmore,) in the 
Barony of Boylagh, near the middle of the western coast of 
Donegal. Tliis occurred on the 16th of September. This 
force consisted of only about two hundred and fifty men, 
most of them being Irish ; and was commanded by James 
Napper Tandy, a brigadier in the service of the French Re- 
public. Aboard the brig in which Tandy came was also 
another General, General Rey. Besides, it contained a 
considerable quantity of arms, accoutrements for cavalry, and 
a park of artillery. Hearing that the government had got- 
ten such information as had put it completely on the alert, 
and of the fate of Humbert, after a brief stay it went to sea 
again. 

About two weeks after the sailing of Tandy from Brest, — on 
September 20th, — Commodore Bompart was ordered to sail 
for Ireland with a squadron consisting of one ship of seventy- 
eight guns, of eight fast-sailing frigates, of a schooner, and of 
a brig. Aboard this squadron were three thousand troops 
under the command of General Hardy ; the celebrated Theo- 
bald W. Tone being employed in the expedition, as a French 
officer, with the rank of adjutant-general. Bompart, after get- 
ting clear of the Bay on which Brest stands, taking a north- 
west sweep, arrived on the coast of Ireland at the mouth of 
Lough Swilly, (about thirty-five miles from where I am writ- 
ing,) on the 11th of October. But, for a considerable time be- 
fore this, an Enghsh fleet of six sail of the line, of one sixty- 
gun ship, and of two frigates, under Admiral Warren, had 
been cruising off the same part of the Irish coast, expecting 
the French armament, — it has been said, in consequence of 
information derived, in some way, from the French agent at 
Hamburg, (who had been made acquainted with the position 
of Irish affairs by Dr. McNevin when on his way to France,) 
or from some other French source. The English ships had 
kept just out of sight of the shores of Ireland, going over, 
when necessary, to Scotland for supplies; so that their 

26 



314 TRAVELS IN FRANCE 

strength was known only to few. In these circumstances, 
before Hardy's force, with the arms and ammunition aboard, 
could be landed, Warren succeeded in compelling Bompart, 
(on the morning of October 12th,) to come to action.* The 
French had ten ships, and the English eight ; but the English 
ships were so greatly superior in size and guns, as to leave no 
doubt whatever what would be the result. Contemplating 
this state of matters, the French Commodore ordered his 
frigates, in case of defeat, to escape through shallow water. 
He then formed line of battle, (his own ship, the Hoche, 
having lost her main top-mast,) and engaged, the action last- 
ing three hours and forty minutes, — when the Hoche, cut to 
pieces, hauled down her colors. This was followed by a suc- 
cession of dispersed conflicts which continued through a good 
part of the day, and the firing during which to those in the 
vicinity gradually became more and more indistinct ; these 
ending in the Resolue Frigate surrendering when about to 
sink, and in the Loire, after an honorable and intrepid de- 
fence, also yielding to greatly superior force. Four of the 
other French frigates were subsequently captured ; so that, 
of the entire squadron, only two frigates, the brig, and the 
schooner, again reached France. 

Tone was among the prisoners captured in the Hoche, 
and, being recognized soon after being carried ashore, from 
having been a prisoner of war was held a prisoner to answer, 
as a subject of George TIL, to the charge of high treason. 
And, that he might be tried on this charge, he was ordered 
to be conveyed from the north to Dublin. Accordingly, he 
was given into the custody of Major Thackerry to be con- 
veyed, with an escort of cavalry, from Derry to the capital. 
But the leaders of the United Men in the counties of Done- 
gal and Derry, at whose doors these things were happening, 
were not indifferent spectators of these occurrences. They too 
were guilty of what the law would hold to be treason, in 
pledging themselves, how patriotic soever in their principles 
and motives, in the year before, that they would take up 
arms upon the arrival among them. With arras and ammuni- 
tion, of any considerable French force. Especially did the 
two men, whom we mentioned above as having revived the 

^ Tlie French and English accounts of the two fleets, contemporary 
•with (heir battle, diifer somewhat as to dates, names, and numbers 
6f ships. One may thus easily fall into unimportant error. 



AND THE BRITISH ISLANDS. 315 

dormant clubs of the United Men, feel themselves most dan- 
p^erously implicated. They had corresponded through the 
United States with France at war with Britain ; they had 
canvassed many in the community in favor of the French in- 
vading force, and they had distributed, with a viewto raising 
a regular Irish army, commissions (though these unwritten) 
to many persons. Besides, Mr. Tone was here, as in every 
other part of Ireland, held in high respect, by the revolu- 
tionary party, as an able, bold, and patriotic man. 

In this state of matters, it was thought, by the two men 
spoken of, that a bold course would be at once the safest 
and the most honorable. It was therefore concluded to 
place ambuscades on the two roads, by the one or the other 
of which Mr. Tone and his guard would pass on their way 
to Dublin, — one ambuscade from the County of Derry, and 
the other from that of Donegal; these ambush parties to 
consist of such persons as had either been advised with as to 
the coming of the French, or as had received commissions 
from the men referred to as having conferred such commis- 
sions. This was accordingly done ; so that no one could 
inform on any one without, at the same time, informing on 
half of all concerned. Thus it wou^d be secured that the 
prisoner would be rescued and that all of those inost deeply 
implicated would be compelled to join in rousing the United 
Men of these two counties in resisting the arrest of any one 
of those associated in this business. The same fatality, how- 
ever, which had hitherto attended the unfortunate but patri- 
otic Tone, still continued to pursue him. In order to be 
sufficiently early, and that Thackerry's escort might not 
pass in anticipation of the laying of the ambuscades, the par- 
ties that were to watch the roads took their concealed posi- 
tions at a very early day. The party from the County of 
Donegal lay not very far from Strabane, keeping vigilant 
watch, day and night ; the main body being on one side of 
the road, covered by a thick whin hedge, while a single indi- 
vidual lay on the other side of the road, (which afforded but 
little cover,) to give the signal to fire by shooting the man 
guarding Tone, before he could use his pistols to shoot his 
prisoner. A man, who was along with this party, compared 
to me the watching by night to lying for otters, which he had 
frequently done along a small river, in his youthful days. The 
otter, as it in the night fishes for salmon, can be heard, in 



316 • TRAVELS IN FRANCE. 

the perfect stillness, a long distance, when, after each short 
interval, coming to the surface to breathe, it breaks the thin 
ice on the water. Such, he said, was the perfect stillness of 
the look-out kept up by his party. After some time, rain 
poured down in torrents, so that to keep the guns dry was 
very difficult. Also, the man, who had the charge of the 
party near the road, Robert Floyd, became so sick that, put- 
ting another in his place, he had to withdraw temporarily 
into a neighboring barn ; while Samuel, the hedge not suf- 
ficing to hide all, was with a reserve party under another 
hedge ofT from the road, he having been disarmed, (as we 
before mentioned,) and thus without a gun. In these cir- 
cumstances, Major Thackerry traveling at a rapid pace, with 
a body of light cavalry, suddenly presented himself; the pri- 
soner, considerably in advance of the main party, riding side 
by side with a horseman that, in case of a rescue, was to fire 
on him. The gun of the man who was to give the signal 
had become wood-bound in consequence of the rain, so that 
the trigger, under the best possible sight of the object aimed 
at, would not move ; while he failed, in the hurry of the 
short moment of the horses trotting sharply past, either to 
whistle or give any other notice that all was not right. 
Thus Tone passed on to the capital and to death. As to 
the main party, I observe that no one fired ; each waiting 
for the appointed signal or for the word of command, neither 
of which was given. I would only further remark, as to the 
ambuscades of which I have been speaking, that, though 
they failed to accomplish the object for which they were 
mainly projected, they subsequently were the instrument of 
safety to at least some who were concerned in their long, cold, 
anxious vigils. With a view to the obviating of any danger 
that might arise from past doings, the men, who had planned 
the rescue, went around those who had participated in the 
attempt to effect it, telling these, their associates, that they 
had now done all they could do, and that it was plain that 
henceforth the only safety of all was to be as patient of 
wrongs as possible, but to take up arms, and that at once, 
as soon as any one involved was attempted to be arrested. 
Nor did the government, when it became aware of the state 
of matters, ever arrest any one concerned. 

The defeat of the armament at whose head had been Gfene- 
ral Hardy and Commodore Bompart, in connection with 



AND THE BRITISH ISLANDS. 31 Y 

the captivity or death of so many of the ablest and most 
patriotic of the United Men, extinguished all hopes of suc- 
cessful resistance, at least at that time, on the part of the 
more intelligent of the Irish people. Yet the English minis- 
ters and their allies, the Irish oligarchy, were fully aware 
that their victory was by no means decisive ; the main 
strength of the revolutionary societies having not even 
stirred. It was in these circumstances that that great con- 
solidating measure, the Union of Ireland with Britain, 
was carried. 

It is probable that Warren's naval victory of Torry Island, 
the failure of the attempt to rescue Mr. Tone, and the gene- 
ral disappointment as to the reception from France of the 
long-expected arms and ammunition, (connected with the 
knowledge of the people that, in the late struggle, the army 
in the country had been swelled to one hundred and sixty 
thousand soldiers well disciplined, well equipped, and brave,) 
would have sufficed to put an end to the military schemes 
that had been formed, as I before mentioned, in the two 
counties with respect to which I am writing, if an incident 
had not occurred to attract again the special attention of 
the government of the day, as well as that of the govern- 
ment of France, to these schemes. In a small and remote 
town, in which there is a monthly fair, there happened, in 
the spring of 1800, a street fight between two parties of 
men ; the one party Protestant and the other Roman Catho- 
lic. On the one side were the Buchanans with their follow- 
ers, and on the other the Strains with theirs. This fight, 
on the part of the Buchanans, grew out of a quarrel of the 
standing of generations ; which quarrel is said to have first 
arisen out of difference of localities, but which had come to 
assume the aspect of a semi-religious petty warfare. The 
Strains, however, had been a quiet people who had usually 
eschewed, in markets and fairs, quarrels whether growing 
out of religious bigotry or of anything else ; nor had the ori- 
ginal difficulty of the Buchanans, a difficulty that had led to in- 
numerable shillelah conflicts, been with them but with others. 
On this occasion, the Strains happened to become involved; 
and, their opponents being at home, and belonging, (many of 
them,) to military corps, succeeded in worsting them badly 
by employing old crooks and other domestic utensils of iron, 
and by using charged bayonets. Indeed some of the defeated 

26* 



318 TRAVELS IN FRANCE 

party, poor laboring men, received bayonet wounds that 
conld never be healed, and that made them, till the day of 
their deaths, earn their bread not merely by the sweat of 
their brows but amid much bitterness and bodily suffering. 
In this conflict, one of the Buchanans, a large-boned muscu- 
lar man, severely beat one of the Strains, a much smaller 
man. Strain had received, in '9t, a cavalry commission from 
Samuel Floyd, and had lain in ambush with the party that 
sought the rescue of Tone. With bruised bones, angry at 
all Protestants in consequence, thinking the United Men 
now no longer worth the keeping of terms with, and proba- 
bly calculating the profit and loss of the thing, he went very 
soon and gave information to the government through a 
neighboring magistrate. He could tell what he saw, but 
could not tell the names or residences of the persons con- 
cerned, with the exception of the man from whom he had 
received the commission referred to and of one or two other 
individuals. In this condition of affairs, and having bought 
over some of the men who had assisted in the ambuscades 
of which I gave you an account, the government determined 
to sieze, at once, on the entire party described by Strain, as 
soon as an opportunity w^ould turn up. Accordingly, Mr. 
Tandy was siezed at Hamburg by some English agents, with 
the expectation, on the part of the British government, that 
the ambush parties, that had been laid for the deliverance of 
Tone, would he repeated for him. But, though Tandy was 
brought on to Liftbrd, in Donegal, and tried at the spring 
assizes of 1801, and though every means was used by the 
government to draw out his sympathizers to rescue him, that 
thus they might be cut in pieces or captured, the decoy to- 
tally failed. In this case, the British ministers contemptu- 
ously violated the neutrality of a weak State, using the soli- 
cited influence of that " tyrannical duncery in which not any- 
thing politically free and generous has yet flourished," Russia, 
to intimidate the Hamburgers into acquiescence in this viola- 
tion ; while, on the other hand, Bonaparte, with the two con- 
suls, his colleagues, expressed toward them, for their pusil- 
lanimity, the strongest sentiments of resentment. Strange, 
indeed, that a street row, in an obscure fair in Donegal, 
should set in motion the governments of London, St. Peters- 
burg, Hamburg, and Paris ; its influence not stopping here, 
but finally extending across the Atlantic ! 



AND THE BRITISH ISLANDS. 319 

Almost simultaneously with these things, was a considera- 
ble military force withdrawn from Ireland to go under Gene- 
ral Abercrombie, (or fill up the place of those who were 
to go,) on the expedition for the expulsion of the French 
from Egypt. Also, the treaty of Luneviile between France 
and Austria, the result of the battle of Marengo, had just 
been signed. In connection with this state of circumstances, 
which left the French government free to execute any scheme 
in relation to this island, that it might choose to engage in, 
by the direction, no doubt, of Napoleon, — whose attention 
was probably recalled to the condition of Ireland by the fuss 
made about Tandy, — a correspondence, through the same 
channel, or, perhaps I ought rather to say, through one of 
the same channels, before made use of, was opened with the 
United Irishmen of these counties. This communication 
came to the same persons who had been concerned in reviv- 
ing, in It 97, the revolutionary organization, as I have above 
narrated. Though neither of these men, before whom the 
business was first brought, took an active part in canvassing 
the people as to the subject of the communication^ yet this 
was done by others ; the result being the general expression 
of a desire, on the part of the party which had been ready 
to join the expedition of Hardy and Tone, for the coming of 
a strong armament with arms. This matter, beyond ques- 
tion, had a connection with the vast armament of one hun- 
dred thousand men collected in this year, (1801,) at Bologne, 
for the invasion of England. It is well known that, at the 
same time, the people of Ireland were on the very eve of a 
general revolt ; expecting to be assisted by arms and other 
aids from abroad. I may here remark that it is strange to 
tell that the British government, in its impotence safely to 
make arrests in these counties, was ready meanwhile to 
stoop to the baseness of planning assassination. At length, 
in March, 1802, the peace of Amiens was signed. 

The peace of 1802, I need scarcely say, was of very brief 
continuance ; in one year and sixteen days after its having 
been concluded, (in May, 1803,) hostilities recommencing. 
Yery soon the head of the French government sought allies 
among the disaffected portion of the people of the British 
Islands, many of whom were, at that time, willing to pur- 
chase reform even at the expense of the risk of seeking it 
through the military aid of foreigners. Especially did he 



320 TRAVELS IN FRANCE 

turn his attention to the disaffected in Ireland. Thus was 
he led to open a correspondence once more with the United 
Irishmen of these counties, beginning it through the channel 
of communication afforded by the United States, and so 
often referred to. This time, however, the two men who 
had liitherto been most active, though they saw their native 
island still hopelessly prostrate, and though to them great 
might be the fascination of the illustrious name of the French 
consul, declined the giving of any co-operation (beyond a 
mere connivance) to any future projects of revolt. But this 
did not put a stop to proceedings. Others were willing to 
do what they refused to attempt. Mr. Patterson, (a resi- 
dent of the western shore of SwillyBay,) and Mr. O'Donnel, 
(a clergyman of the Established Church,) two men very nearly 
related, assumed all the hazard of going ahead ; they being 
partly impelled to this by the consideration of the channel 
through which the proposals had come, the former being a 
relative of Mr. Patterson of Baltimore. Against this course 
they were advised on the ground that, during the late ces- 
sation of. hostilities, the government was reported, in some 
parts of Ireland, to have won over some, perhaps many, of 
those who had hitherto been zealous patriots; and they were 
told that, if they did proceed, it would be most prudent in 
them to get a new set of coadjutors. This latter piece of 
counsel they took. I would here remark that it was proba- 
bly about the time of the beginning of the correspondence of 
which I am now speaking that an understanding com- 
menced, (or, perhaps I ought to say, was revived,) between 
the Preach government and Thomas Russell, one of the 
State prisoners who had been conlined in Fort George in 
Scotland, whence he had been liberated about the date of 
the Peace of Amiens ; Russell being, in some way, connected 
with Robert Emmet. Of the deep interest of the French 
Consul in the affairs of Ireland at this period, we are suffi- 
ciently instructed by the fact that, to give an emphatic assu- 
rance, as it would seem, of his deep earnestness in respect to 
them, he caused his brother, Jerome Bonaparte, — a young 
oflicer of the French navy, going into twenty years of age, — 
who had been on duty in the West Indies, to be carried by 
his ship to the United States, (arriving in New York in the 
begiuning of August,) where he was soon thrown into contact 
with that family which had been, in the United States, the 



AND THE BRITISH ISLANDS. 321 

medium of intercourse between at least a portion of the 
Irish revolutionists and revolutionary France. And, in con- 
junction with all, a fleet was collected at Brest for the inva- 
sion of Ireland, and an immense armament, — perhaps the 
most complete that was ever equipped, — which was finally 
swelled to three hundred thousand men, with thousands of 
gun-boats, was about being prepared at the old city of Bo- 
logne, to pass over (one-half to go across at once and the 
other half to be an army of reserve,) the thirty miles of 
channel separating the shores of France from those of Bri- 
tain. The British government, however, was early aware, 
at least in part, of what was going on in Ireland, so that 
Russell, mentioned above, who had served with reputation 
as an ofl&cer in the army, and who was, in all respects, a 
man to be feared, was closely watched ; and, the character of 
the course that he was shaping out for himself, being suffi- 
ciently ascertained, he was arrested even before the ship that 
took Jerome Bonaparte to New York arrrived in that port, 
— being tried and executed some three months after his ar- 
rest. In connection with what I have said of the British 
ministry being informed, though certainly only partially , of 
the designs and projects of the head of the French Repub- 
lic, in relation to Ireland, I would observe that I am satis- 
fied that a British agent, or agents, in America, were the 
quarter from which a portion of this information was de- 
rived by them. This was told me, more than twenty-five 
years ago, by one of the two men who had declined, as I men- 
tioned above, any participation in the business, but who had 
been a close observer of the course of afi*airs ; and I myself 
have had since an abundant confirmation of what was then, 
on strong grounds of conjecture, asserted. Indeed, the same 
person, with his friends in Baltimore, who, in 1814, gave 
General Ross the informaton that led him to march on the 
City of Washington, (as I learned when residing in Balti- 
more in the summer and autumn of 1835,) was, with those 
his friends referred to, in such circumstances and position, 
during the stay of Jerome Bonaparte in the United States, 
as might enable him and them to glean up everything occur- 
ring in regard to this matter ; and, while I was there at the 
time designated, some things turned up that, though I did 
not ponder them when they happened, more than fix in my 
mind the impression that the same agent, or, as I think I 



322 TRAVELS IN FRANCE 

ought to say, agents, were the persons (as I conceive, act- 
ing, except they were moved by money, considering the 
changed aspect of affairs, in one of the cases, in a manner 
deserving of commendation,) that communicated intelligence 
on both occasions. 

Meanwhile the youthful brother of the French First Con- 
sul, by becoming enamored of, and, in December, (not alto- 
gether five months after his landing in the United States,) 
marrying, the well-known Miss Elizabeth Patterson, was en- 
gaged, — I do not pretend to decide which, — ^in strengthen- 
ing, or weakening, the good understanding subsisting between 
the government of France and those, at this time, in Ireland 
disposed toward a revolution. He, after his nuptials, going 
on to New York, took Belvidere for the season ; and, as a 
distinguished public character of that day, in a letter written 
at the time, remarks of him, became, ''for unknown reasons 
of State," a stranger to at least some of those with whom 
he had, before this, associated. Soon his frigate, and another 
French frigate, (her mate,) were blockaded by English ships 
in New York Bay. In these circumstances, he sent on, in 
the summer of 1804, his wife before him to France, in an 
American ship ; but this lady was refused admittance into a 
French port, and thus had to land, on account of the state 
of her health, in England, in which country she resided, for 
some time, at Camberwell, near London. In the May of 
the year succeeding the occurrence of this affair, (the May 
of 1805,) Jerome Bonaparte himself, he having succeeded 
in escaping the blockade kept up by the British ships cruis- 
ing off New York, returned to France. Not far from the 
same time, his wife, with her infant son who had been born 
at Camberwell, (Jerome Bonaparte, Jr.,) returned to the 
United States. Various reasons may be conceived for the 
separation brought about, in this manner, between Jerome 
Bonaparte and the youthful, beautiful, and ever-circumspect 
Elizabeth P. Bonaparte; a separation compulsory as it 
related to both. Probably the main reason was that Napo- 
leon, who, on December 2d, 1804, had been crowned Em- 
peror, in the Cathedral of Notre Dame, in Paris, amid a 
scene of unheard-of magnificence, — the Pope personally pre- 
sent and blessing the sceptre and the sword, scarred grena- 
diers, who had fought at Lodi, the Pyramids, and Marengo, 
assisting in the grand ceremony, five hundred musicians dis- 



AND THE BRITISH ISLANDS. 323 

coursing the noblest music, dense crowds applauding, innu- 
merable cannon filling the air with their thunders, while the 
new Emperor himself put the crown on his own head, — I 
say the main reason of the separation spoken of probably 
was that Napoleon, newly elevated to imperial dignity, was 
unwilling to permit his brother to overstep the vast distance 
in rank between him and the daughter of a merchant. Pro- 
bably, also, there were auxiliary reasons. Most certain it is 
that this winding up of this transaction was the winding up 
of all the schemes of the United Irishmen in Derry and 
Donegal, and, in all likelihood, in Ireland. 

Thus closed the conspiracy of the United Irishmen, (and 
I would say that the colossal and freedom-hating despotism, 
jflto which France had turned, made it time for it to stop,) 
^ter extending, in Ireland, in all, over nearly fourteen event- 
ful years, and, in the counties as to which lam writing, over 
the period of ten years. It called forth, from their ports, 
three powerful armaments, two of them French* and one 
Dutch ; two of these armaments being destroyed in battle, 
and one ruined by the elements. It occupied the attention 
of an English army, ranging from one hundred thousand 
to one hundred and sixty thousand men, for many years; 
the Irish oligarchy and the English ministry, together, by 
their stupid obstinacy, thus making such a diversion in 
favor of France, as contributed quite as much as anything 
else to enable her to establish a military superiority over all 
other nations. In one year, that of 1198, this army lost 
twenty thousand men, (about forty thousand being the loss 
of the British army in the revolted colonies during the Ame- 
rican Revolution,) while, in the same year, the loss of those 
who took up arms to put down the government in Ireland 
amounted to fifty thousand, (about eighty thousand being 
the loss of the Americans in their Revolution.) Also, dur- 
ing the progress of this project occurred, as I have already 
mentioned, a most momentous internal change in the politi- 
cal state of the British empire : I speak of the union between 
Britain and Ireland, a political event pregnant with bound- 
less good if properly improved, but which may fail to be 
productive of the good expected from it, if unattended with 
needed reforms. 

Here I might close my brief survey of the history of the 
two counties in regard to which I am writing. I would only 



324 TRAVELS IN FRANCE 

add that though, along Swilly Bay, six powerful batteries 
had been erected, during the progress of these transactions, 
so that no ship could enter without having, at the same mo- 
ment, concentrated on her the fire of four of these ; though 
the men who had been most active as leaders seeking political 
ameliorations, had now abandoned all idea of attaining lib- 
erty by the aid of France, (now become a fiercely aggressive 
and an almost omnipotent military despotism;) though many 
in the community, who had been professed patriots, had in 
their pockets the price of their mercenariness ; and though 
men in power knew that the channel of communication be- 
tween these counties and France was now fast closed : yet, 
such was the dread of the government for the broken frag- 
ments of the military organization which had here existecL 
and such was the feeling of guiltiness in its conscience, thaT 
it could not rest at ease. Down to a time later than the 
overthrow of Napoleon in Russia, in 1812, strong bodies of 
soldiery were unnecessarily stationed in every town, village, 
and hamlet, in certain vicinities ; light horsemen, during the 
night, rode up and down the highways ; all fires and lights 
had to be extinguished at nine o'clock; finally, in addition 
to the forces maintained all over the country, a camp was, 
on a small scale, formed ; and also frigates were kept cruising 
off the coast during summer and winter. And all this in 
dread of a population as remarkable for industry, intelli- 
gence, and love of the Bible, as any other of equal numbers in 
Europe or America. Surely it is easier for governments to do 
right than to do wrong. It is painful to relate, just in clos- 
ing what I am writing, that one of the frigates spoken of, 
the Saldanha, commanded by the Honorable Captain Pack- 
enham, a brave and skillful naval officer, and an amiable 
man, — brother-in-law of the Duke of Wellington, — was lost, 
with all on board, on the night of December 4, 1812. I only 
add that, since that melancholy occurrence, not anything of 
sufficient public interest, to be chronicled, has happened. 
In concluding this long epistle, I subscribe myself. 

Yours, &c., M. F. 



AND THE BRITISH ISLANDS. 325 



NO. XXX. 

Last Letter from British Soil — Yoyage to Liverpool from Derry — Shores of the Ocean 
— The Giant's Causeway — Rathlin Island — Laid Waste by the Norsemen — Robert 
Bruce — Night — Estuary of the Mersey — Bell-buoy — Taking Passage — The Liver- 
pool Docks — Streets — St. G-eorge's Hall — Sailor's Home — The Custom-House — The 
Exchange and Town Hall — Nelson's Monument — Complete News-room — Museum 
of the Royal Institution— The Supply of Water to the Town— Dr. McNeil's Church 
— His Preaching — Prince's Park—Congi-egation of Dr. Raffles — Increase of Liver- 
pool — Excursion to Chester — Bridges in Chester — Its old Wall — Battle on Waver- 
ton Heath — Streets— The Abbey and Cathedral — Saxon Arch 1100 Years old — 
Coffin of Hugh Lupus — Trinity Church — Matthew Henry and Parnel — A Roman 
Station — Altar — Return to Liverpool — Ship-board — Firing of Batteries — About to 
Sail. 

Liverpool, Se;pt., 1855. 

This is the last letter that I expect to address to you 
from British soil. Indeed, I will not close nor date it till I 
am just on the point of sailing for America, when I will 
send it on, knowing that it will go by the steam mail-packet 
much more rapidly than I can go by a sail-ship. Its arrival 
in the United States will thus considerably anticipate mine. 

I purpose at this time to give you an account of my jour- 
neyings, and of matters and things in general, since I left 
Derr}\ 

I left Londonderry by steamer on Monday the 3d of Sep- 
tember, and arrived here after a passage of about twenty- 
three hours, the distance passed over, by our boat, having 
been about two hundred and seventy miles ; so that we voy- 
aged at about twelve miles an hour, nearly. Our voyage 
down the Foyle to the sea was very pleasant, with the suc- 
cessive country-seats of gentlemen, with their shrubberies, on 
either hand ; and with the railroad to Belfast, on the County 
Derry side of the Bay, in view down to the ocean; but, 
after this, being slightly unwell, and the wind sharp and 
cold, the voyage was by no means so agreeable. Our boat 
kept close in by the land, (as boats usually do,) till we 
reached toward the neighborhood of Belfast Bay, where she 
entirely abandoned the coast. The shores, all the way from 
the mouth of the Foyle, are exceedingly precipitous, being 
one vast wall of jagged, beetling rock. At the foot of this 
wall, and against it, everlastingly rolls the ocean, that — 

27 



326 TRAVELS IN FRANCE 

"Glorious mirror, -where the Almighty's form 
Glasses itself in tempests: in all time, 
(Calm; or convulsed in breeze, or gale, or storm; 
Icing the Pole; or, in the torrid clime, 
Dark-heaving,) boundless, endless, and sublime; 
The image of eternity ; the throne 
Of the Invisible." 

And glorious as is tlie view of these dingy, frowning preci- 
pices, and sublime as is the prospect of the ocean, the in- 
terest to me was immensely increased by the sight, along 
with other things, of three objects, a large steamboat under 
full headway, a tiny open boat, and a soaring bird, which 
my fellow-passengers chose, (I suppose correctly,) to call an 
eagle. I felt sorry that, on account of my slight feeling of 
unwellness, I could not enjoy these things as much as, in 
other circumstances, I would, no doubt, have done. Yet 
they had upon me an exhilarating effect. Especially did 
the two last-named objects suggest associations at once me- 
lancholy and pleasing. On this same field of water, but con- 
siderably farther northwest, a friend, now long in his grave, 
had had, in his boyish days, an adventure which the tiny 
boat called to remembrance. He and four fishermen had 
gone out to fish iu an open boat, when a storm arose driving 
them out to sea. Almost without provisions or water, they 
were compelled, for more than two days and during three 
nights, wet and shivering, to breast the mountain waves. 
They threw out their anchor over the stern into the fathom- 
less depths below, keeping the boat's head to the storm; 
and, she being thus steadied and her stem thus made buoy- 
ant, they were enabled, by a kind Providence smiling on the 
skillful endeavors of the strong and fearless boatmen, to out- 
ride the tempest and reach land. The same friend, who had 
been brought up, (as I may observe in passing,) along the 
coast, had had a lamb given him, in his boyhood, as a pre- 
sent. This lamb grew, and, after a lapse of time, became 
a mother. And, while the lambkin was playing beside its 
dam, an eagle, which had his nest in a neighboring preci- 
pice, suddenly pounced on the little sportive creature, seek- 
ing to bear it in his talons to the aerie among the crags along 
the great deep. The owner, however, was uear enough to 
scare the ferocious robber away without his prey, but not till 
such wounds had been inflicted on the victim of this cruel em- 



AND THE BRITISH ISLANDS. 32t 

brace, tliat it died. The nest was inaccessible, and indeed 
unapproachable, except at as far off as the distance of a very 
long shot with a bullet. Often did the owner lie in wait and 
shoot bootless bullets at the marauder and his mate as they 
came with rabbits and hares to their young, or as they soared 
away on their hunting excursions. These adventures, trivial 
in themselves, as I looked on the little boat out amid the 
waste of waters, on the soaring bird of prey, and on the 
frowning, dusky precipices and crags, were brought before 
my mind with the most vivid interest. To others, in all like- 
lihood, they would have been things of indifference. Even the 
magnificent steamboat traveling lustily along, proudly inde- 
pendent of wind and tide, was to me an object of far less 
interest than the fishing-boat and the bird, just because of 
these old associations. 

The voyager along the northeast coast of Ireland, between 
the debouchure of Foyle Bay and the portion of sea lying 
off the mouth of Belfast Bay, passes close by the Griant's 
Causeway. This great natural curiosity is distant from 
Derry, by the route that Liverpool steamers usually take, 
about forty miles. Having passed, several times, in close 
propinquity to it, — within a long pistol-shot, — I ought to 
say a word in relation to it. It is well known that it is uni- 
versally regarded as one of the most remarkable objects in 
the world, indeed one of the world's seven chief wonders. 
Yet, as seen from the sea, there is nothing extraordinary 
in the view which it presents. In its neighborhood, the 
shores are precipitous yet not without verdure. The height 
of the cliff, just where it is, is something near to four hundred 
feet. There are several caves, one of which (into which cave 
the ocean flows) has a very wide entrance. In this cave the 
late Sir Robert Peel, when pleasuring with a number of no- 
blemen and gentlemen, had a cannon tired : the explosion has 
been described to me as prodigiously startling. To so small 
advantage is the Causeway seen from the water, — perhaps 
this thing is different in other stages of the tide from what 
it was when I passed, — that that stone platform projecting, 
from the base of the cliff spoken of, into the sea, which 
platform is properly named the Causeway, cannot, by the 
passer-by, be more than distinguished from the other com- 
mon things in its vicinity ; except he is acquainted with the 
descriptions given of the form of the curiosity on which he 



328 TRAVELS IN FRANCE 

is looking. Said platform is said to be seven hundred feet 
in length, from one hundred and twenty to two hundred and 
forty in width, and from sixteen to thirty-six feet above the 
level of the adjacent strand. Toward the northeast is what 
is called the organ, in the side of a hill, consisting of fifty 
pillars. The middle pillar of these is described as being 
forty feet high ; the others, around it, gradually diminishing. 
The pillars of the Causeway are in an upright position and 
amount to several hundred thousands in number. They are 
of a black basalt, are not of one continuous piece but 
jointed, (and this admirably,) are generally though not al- 
ways five-sided, and are from about fifteen to above twenty- 
four inches in diameter. It is worth adding that this great 
freak of nature is composed of stone so compact in texture 
that, though it has been exposed to the action of the sea 
and air from creation to the present time, the angles of the 
columns still preserve their sharpness. 

About fifteen miles after passing the Giant's Causeway, 
and a little more than fifty-five miles from Derry, the voy- 
ager passes the Islet of Rathlin or Raghery. This islet lies 
about sixteen miles from the promontory of Cantyre in Scot- 
land, and about three miles from the coast of the Irish 
County of Antrim. It is shaped somewhat like the arm 
when half bent at the elbow, and is about seven miles long 
by two and a half in width ; containing a population of 
about one thousand. On the side next the main sea are 
several caves. As, in former days, I have been all around 
it, and have viewed it carefully, I may speak not merely 
from sailing, at this time, along its inside shore, but from for- 
mer observation. The land is mostly but little productive, 
and there are scarcely any trees. Indeed, few kinds of trees 
can stand its sharp ocean-breezes. Yet, I think, if the com- 
mon mjcamore were planted and properly cared for, since it 
is so hardy that it will bear the severest and most cutting 
sea-winds, it would prosper and would soon be a protection 
under whose shade other trees would grow. As the island 
now is, it has a very bleak aspect. Only one person having 
the rank of a gentlemen resides on it, and he is at once the pro- 
prietor of the soil and the rector. Poor, bleak, and secluded, 
however, though this islet may be, it has played its part in 
the history of the past. It early contained an abbey. About 
the year 195, (contemporaneously with the first invasion of 



AND THE BRITISH ISLANDS. 329 

England, on a large scale, by the same people.) it was laid 
waste by the Danes or Norsemen, the first step toward the 
beginning of their many terrible expeditions against the 
coasts of Ireland. I may remark that it was at this invasion 
that the ancient Hibernians mocked when they jested at the 
Norsemen as having succeeded in the grand enterprise of 
drowning the Abbot of Raghery's pigs; — a foolish taunt, as 
subsequent events showed. And, live hundred and eleven 
years after this, in the year 1306, it had the honor of afford- 
ing a refuge to Robert Bruce when expelled from his native 
land ; and, on the northern part of it, there still exist the 
fragments of a rude castle, or rather fortress, which the tra- 
ditions of the inhabitants still associate, no doubt correctly, 
with his name. 

Not long after passing the Islet of Rathlin, our boat 
ceased to hug, so closely as it had done, the coast of Ire- 
land, standing out into the broad waters. Then, after a 
time, came night, when I retired to a troublous repose, for 
I was by no means well. Next morning, I found that we 
were at no very great distance from the mouth of the. Estu- 
ary of the Mersey- Then we got a view of the dusky tops 
of some of the mountains of the principality. And, after a 
while, we were entering the bay that leads to Liverpool. 
From the time of our approaching the headlands of the Mer- 
sey till we had entered the docks, not anything attracted my 
attention so much, not even the vast mercantile navies in 
motion all around, as the fog-bell, or bell-buoy, slowly and 
faintly ringing out to us over the wrinkled tides, as it swung, 
its solemn Sunday-like music, to guard us against the shoals 
with which the surrounding waters are encumbered. This 
buoy is unlike anything of the sort that I know of. It is a 
frame of wood floating on the water and strongly chained to 
anchors, having a large bell suspended on the summit of the 
frame ; and this is tolled by the action of the waves, especially 
during a storm. At length we had entered the Liverpool 
docks. And soon had 1 my trunks conveyed to a comfort- 
able boarding-house in the neighborhood of the Exchange, 
to which a merchant in Derry had given me a letter ; and 
here I am while I write, and I will be here till I leave Eng- 
land. 

The first things that engaged my attention, on my arrival 
in this city, were to search out a vessel in which, before any 

2t* 



330 TRAVELS IN FRANCE 

other, I would prefer to voyage, and to have my name en- 
rolled as a passenger in her. I soon fixed on the American 
Union, a new sail-ship. Indeed, I had no great room for 
choice in the matter. On account of the war in the Crimea 
and the number of Atlantic steamers employed in carrying 
troops thither, the New York steamers are so full that a 
passage in them has to be engaged, several weeks, beforehand. 
Having neglected to do this, I must go by sails and not by 
steam ; and, this being settled, I soon fixed on the packet-ship 
named, securing a berth in state-room No. 1. So afi'airs 
stand as to my future voyage. And I am now at leisure to 
write, or to look, or to travel, as I may choose, till the day 
of sailing comes round. With respect to the matter of my 
taking passage, I need not be more particular. 

One object of inspection, that strongly, and before any 
other, strikes the notice of the stranger in Liverpool, is the 
docks. It is certain that there is not anything equal to 
them, or even nearly equal to them, anywhere else in the 
world. The London docks are far behind. They extend 
in a direct line along the Mersey for seven miles, and, on 
account of their numerous basins, afford, in this distance, a 
quay-space equal to more than thirty miles in length. Then, 
in addition to this, there is large dock-room at the town of 
Birkenhead, on the opposite side of the Mersey. Along 
the docks there is a high, strong wall with gates, at which 
policemen are stationed. These works were rendered neces- 
sary by the great rise of the tide in the river at the place, 
this rise ranging from twelve to thirty feet. Now, when the 
tide would be thirty feet high, if a large ship were brought 
close to the wharf, as soon as the tide retired she would be 
left dry, in consequence of which she would be likely to suf- 
fer damage from straining. Other inconveniences were also 
experienced. Thus a ship, that came to the wharf at spring- 
tide, might not be able to go away in neap-tide. To remedy 
such evils, these artificial havens were excavated and con- 
structed. There are several sorts of docks here, as wet 
docks, dry docks, and floating docks. The first-named sort 
covers an area of nearly one hundred and ninety acres. A 
dock of this kind consists of an excavation in the side of the 
river for the repairing or holding of vessels, but without any 
floodgates for either the retaining or the excluding of the 
tide. The second-named sort, to wit, dry docks, are like the 



* AND THE BRITISH ISLANDS. 331 

docks just spoken of, except that they are furnished with 
floodgates for the exclusion of the tide ; and, as the result of 
their possessing these, the work of repairing ships can be 
carried on, irrespective of the highness or lowness of the 
water. But most of the capitally important Liverpool docks, 
I believe, are what are called floating docks, that is, large 
basins for the loading and unloading of vessels, and which 
are connected with the river by canals and locks. In these 
huge basins or reservoirs, which are cased with stone, ships 
always float ; whence the name by which they are distin- 
guished. The vast forest of masts, bearing the flags of 
all nations, to be seen in the various docks of Liverpool, 
(with the innumerable small crafts, and steamers, devoted to 
domestic trade,) can scarcely be conceived. And what an 
inconceivable variety of merchandise ! Merchandise from 
Ireland, from Wales, from Scotland, and from the western 
counties of England ; from the West and East Indies, from 
the Baltic, Black, Red and Mediterranean seas, from South 
and Equatorial Africa, from South America, and from the 
United States of North America. Especially does the cot- 
ton of the cotton-raising States of the great North American 
Confederacy, though it is not now about being landed in any 
great quantities, court observation ; piled, as it is, bale upon 
bale. And then one looking at it cannot help wondering at 
the huge ponderous wagons on four very low wheels, in 
which it is hauled away, each wagon having yoked to it two 
great slow-moving dray-horses ; many of these horses being 
above twenty-two hands high, with bone and muscle in 
proportion, and a pair of them being capable of dragging 
at their heels thirty bales of cotton. Indeed, there is no 
other place on the globe so complete a miniature, (a minia- 
ture, I may remark, on a large scale,) of the world's com- 
merce, as the Liverpool docks. And within their walls is 
to be found an almost perfect exemplification of that spirit 
which in ancient times overcame the steppes of Scythia 
and the sands of Lybia, which reared Petra and Palmyra, 
Tyre and Carthage, which joined the Red Sea with the Nile 
and penetrated northward to utmost Thule ; and which has 
in modern days hewed down the primitive forests of Ame- 
rica and drained the waters of Australia, which has built 
Yenice, Amsterdam, New York, New Orleans, Liverpool, 
and London, which is seeking through the Isthmus of Dariea 



332 TRAVELS IN FRANCE - 

to connect the Atlantic and Pacific oceans, which is girdling 
the globe with lines of steam-packets, of railroads, and of 
telegraph wires, which has colonized all islands and conti- 
nents, and which is civilizing, and, along with the missionary 
and the Bible, Christianizing all mankind. 

When the stranger has taken such a survey of the docks, 
— with their ships, steamers, merchandise, and illustrations 
of the almost countless diversities, on our globe, of national- 
ities and of races, — as is sufficient to satiate his curiosity, he 
is apt next to desire to take a ramble through and around 
some of the leading streets. At least this was pretty nearly 
the course which my inclinations led me to pursue. The 
streets of Liverpool, even the humblest of them, are well 
built ; though, very often, they are very short. The best 
are. Lord Street, distinguished for its fine buildings, and 
Castle, Church, and Dale streets. All these streets named 
are very beautiful. Yet none of them is, by any means, 
equal, in my opinion, to several of the streets of London, to 
Sackville Street in Dublin, to Prince's Street in Edinburgh, 
and, above all, to the Champs Elysees in Paris. I would 
add that none of them makes, perhaps, such a favorable im- 
pression as do two or three of the leading streets in Phila- 
delphia. 

JSText, the public edifices claim some attention. Of these 
that one of which the citizens are proudest, (judging from a 
talk that I had with a physician of the town,) is St. George's 
Hall, and, if the stranger will consult with almost any of the 
citizens, it is probably the first at which he will take a look. 
This is quite a new building. It is intended to accommo- 
date the assize courts, contains a magnificent music hall, and 
is one of the noblest and largest buildings of the kind to be 
met with in any city of the British Islands. It is admirably 
proportioned, and is of the Corinthian order of architecture.- 
The Sailors' Home is also quite a handsome building exter- 
nally, as it is a very convenient one, as I have no doubt, for 
its purpose, internally I have never seen any building 
reared, with a view to the benefiting of this Interesting and 
altogether indispensable class of men, in any other city, to 
be, for a moment, compared with it. And well does the sai- 
lor deserve that some such provision should be made for him 
against sickness and old age. For small wages and hard 
fare, he goes through surprising hardships, while multitudes 



AND THE BRITISH ISLANDS. 333 

grow rich upon his labor. At midnight and in midwinter, 
when the freezing tempest is raging, he struggles over the 
dark and stormy abyss of waters, more than eighty feet high, 
to take in the heavy and nearly unmanageable sail, and this, 
standing on a single slack and swaying rope. Yet this is 
but little of what he has to pass through. Surely then he 
has a right to expect that, — 

When "life's briglit glowing summer 

Is hasting to its close, 
And winter's night is coming, 

The night of long repose," 

those, who have attired themselves in purple and fine linen 
and fared sumptuously every day, by his means, should 
not leave him to die either in the streets or in a garret, but 
should rear and furnish for his use, with hands neither mean 
nor penurious, such ''a home" as Liverpool, to her honor, 
has here erected for him. Again, the Custom-House is wor- 
thy of a visit. It is a very strong and ponderous building, 
covering a very large space, and has, in the area before its 
north front, a bronze statue cast at Munich, of the celebrated 
member of Parliament, Mr. Huskisson, who was killed, in 
the presence of the late Duke of Wellington and of other 
celebrated men, by a railroad engine, in 1830, at the celebra- 
tion of the completion of the Liverpool and Manchester 
Kailroad. Again, the Exchange and Town-Hall, standing 
close together, (the Exchange occupying three sides of the 
square on which it is built, and the Town-Hall the remaining 
side,) demand notice. To these buildings I have given 
more attention than to any others intov*''n. This has arisen 
from their being quite close to my boarding-house. Indeed, 
I have visited them so often in my walks that I have ceased 
to keep count. And one can scarcely visit one of them 
without also visiting the other. In visiting these edifices, 
the first thing that strikes attention is the monument to 
Lord Nelson, in the open space on which they stand. It, 
though not aiming at loftiness, is exceedingly stately and im- 
posing ; and also it is distinguished at once for felicity of 
design and of execution. It is enclosed within an iron rail- 
ing, and consists of a bronze allegorical group of the figures 
of Death and Victory ; this allegorical representation refer- 
ring to his fall at Trafalgar, while about obtaining one of 



334 TRAVELS IN FRANCE 

the greatest of his many great victories. On the pedestal 
of the monument, his battles are exhibited in relief. With 
respect to the Exchange, — which was begun in 1809, — I 
would remark that it is a very plain though a very spacious 
and convenient edifice. Its news-room contains all the more 
valuable newspapers published in what language soever all 
over the world. And as to the Town-Hall, I would remark 
that though it is a small building compared with the Hotel 
de Yille (or Town-Hall) of Paris, yet that it is, neverthe- 
less, a grand structure may be guessed from the fact that it 
cost £110,000 sterling, prudently expended. As one as- 
cends its staircase he comes into contact with a beautiful 
statue of the celebrated British premier and orator, the Ho- 
norable G-eorge Canning. This edifice contains a handsome 
council-hall, a superb suite of entertainment rooms, and all 
the offices necessary for the use of those concerned in the 
administration of municipal affairs. In addition to what I 
have already said of the public buildings of Liverpool, I will 
now make reference to the Royal Institution, an establish- 
ment which has an extensive and increasing library, and a 
museum valuable in all its departments, but especially so in 
the department of natural history. No stranger should leave 
Liverpool without spending some time in this museum. 
Among its curiosities is a pair of the horns of the long since 
extinct Irish elk, between the extremities of the points of 
which horns, in a straight line, is the distance of about nine 
feet and a half, and, following their sinuosities, of about six- 
teen feet and a half. 

Again, after having said so much of the public edifices of 
this city, I will say a v/ord as to its supply of water. The 
supply of this essential element is scanty though its quality 
is excellent. It is procured through or in a stratum of red 
sandstone by pumping, is raised into reservoirs, and is thence 
distributed hj pipes over the town. Such is the force with 
which it is propelled through these, that a jet from one of 
the main pipes operates, like a jet from a powerful fire- 
engine, in extinguishing a conflagration. A more abund- 
ant supply is greatly needed. 

Again, with respect to the manner in which I have spent 
the only Sabbath that I have passed here at this time, you will, 
no doubt, expect me to say something. I attended public 
worship twice. Carriages usually stand, for hire, close by 



AND THE BRITISH ISLANDS. 335 

the Exchange, and accordingly I went thither to engage one 
to take me to the church (which belongs to the Establish- 
ment) of which Dr. McNeil is rector. He is, you are aware, 
exceedingly celebrated as a pulpit orator. But on going to 
the vicinity of the Exchange, I found that neither carriage 
nor omnibus was to be found. So, inquiring the way, I 
started on foot, and a very long walk I had. At length, I 
reached Prince's Park, — as I think it is called, — on the edge 
of which the church, for which I was seeking, is situated. 
It is an exceedingly spacious, noble, and indeed magnificent 
cruciform edifice — which has not long been built. The doc- 
tor himself preached. He spoke without a manuscript, and 
plainly without having very thoroughly directed his mind to 
his subject. His discourse, therefore, though not loose or 
desultory, was a little trite. Yet it was highly practical and 
adapted to be useful. I could not but think that more study 
and greater elaboration should have characterized it, to cause 
it to be in keeping with the rich mahoganies of the grand 
building in which it was delivered, and with the vast, respec- 
table-looking, and attentive congregation to which it was 
addressed. The preacher is an exceedingly graceful, digni- 
fied, and fluent speaker, with a very slight tinge of the Irish 
brogue : he gestures much, and his gestures and attitudes 
are always becoming and sometimes very imposing. His 
voice possesses more sweetness, distinctness, and compass, 
combined, than any other to which, so far as I can recollect, 
I have ever listened. After services, the day being very 
pleasant, I walked for an hour and a half, or more, in the 
Park. It is certainly very beautiful, and is kept in the very 
best order. It is large, contains numerous shady groves, 
among which graveled avenues wind, and has a fine artificial 
lake. It is divided into two parts, one part being accessible 
only to those who, on their paying for them, are furnished 
with keys to open the gates ; a practice of exclusiveness 
very common in all the cities of the British Islands ex- 
cept London, which copies Paris. In the evening I wor- 
shiped with the congregation of the celebrated Congrega- 
tional divine. Dr. Raffles. It met in the lecture-room of the 
Mechanics' Institute, the church, or rather chapel, belonging 
to it, being about being painted. A stranger preached, 
without using a manuscript, a most excellent, and very care- 
fully prepared discourse. The doctor himself is absent on 



336 TRAVELS IN FRANCE 

the continent, recruiting his health. One of his parishioners 
told me that, when he agreed to settle with his chnrch, he 
reserved, with a view to the recreation necessary to health 
and usefulness, several Sabbaths, — if I understood correctly, 
six, — in each year. Of course, this reservation explains his 
present absence. 

Again, before winding up what I am writing about Liver- 
pool, I ought to say something as to the present amount of 
her population and the history of its increase. Originally 
this city was a mere fishing- village. In 1650, this village 
had become sufficiently mercantile and wealthy to own twenty- 
four small vessels, navigated by seventy-six seamen. The 
number of its inhabitants, in lYOO, — it, from a village, hav- 
ing now become a town, — had reached 5000 souls. This 
number, in 1T73, had grown to 34,000; in 1801, to 11,000; 
in 1821, to 118,000, and, with the suburbs, to 141,000; and, 
ten years later, in 1831, to 163,000, and, with the suburbs, to 
200,000. And, three years ago, in 1852, the population had 
increased to 360,000. 

I will conclude this epistle with an account of my excur- 
sion, on last Friday, to the City of Chester; going thither 
on the day named, and returning on the next. That city I 
have always regarded with much interest, and, as it is not 
distant from Liverpool more than seventeen miles, with a 
railroad between, I concluded that I would spend a brief 
time in paying a visit to it. Accordingly, leaving my board- 
ing-house, I passed over the Mersey to Birkenhead, between 
which place and Liverpool a steam ferry-boat regularly plies. 
This town contains a population of upwards of 30,000, and 
lies about fifteen miles to the north-northwest of Chester. 
Going to the railroad station, I was soon on my way to the 
city of my destination, and, after passing through a beauti- 
ful and highly cultivated country filled with comfortable 
dwelling-houses and moderately good farm-buildings, arrived 
in it in a surprisingly short while. 

Chester makes a fine appearance, being situated on an 
eminence. Its population is short of 30,000. The Dee 
flows through the suburbs ; and over it are two bridges, one 
of which, called Grosvenor bridge, is a single stone arch of 
two hundred feet in span. Around the town is an old and 
massive wall said to be two miles in circuit and constructed 
partially of hewn stone. From this wall the prospect is fine, 



AND THE BRITISH ISLANDS. 33t 

extending over a beautiful and widely stretching and higlily 
improved expanse of fertile land, and, beyond this, in one 
direction, taking in several of the mountains of Wales. Seve- 
ral of its towers remain, and from one of these Charles L, 
during the civil wars in his reign, viewed the progress and 
result of the severe battle fought, in the September of 1645, 
on Waverton Heath, four miles east-southeast of the city. 

The peculiarity of the construction of the old streets requires 
a slight notice. They were dug out of the rocky hill to the 
depth of a story, and, though now partially filled up, are 
still deep down. And higher than they, — yet covered over 
by the upper part of the houses so as to be protected against 
rain, — is a path for passengers. In some other places have 
I seen a few similarly constructed houses : — I have not been 
able to recollect where. 

The main things, however, that call for the notice of the 
stranger, are, the old abbey and cathedral, Trinity Church, 
and the castle. The abbey and cathedral are venerable and 
massive piles, which show in many things the wasting opera- 
tion of time. They contain an old Saxon arch, under which 
the visitor passes, of eleven hundred years of age. They 
also contain many sepulchral monuments. 'Nor ought the 
coffin of Hugh Lupus, Earl of Chester, which has its rest- 
ing-place in the chapter-house, be forgotten ; a powerful 
nobleman of the reign of the Conqueror, and the main agent 
in subduing the old Britons in the province of Flint. Tri- 
nity Church is remarkable as containing the mortal remains 
of two very illustrious men : the excellent, laborious, and 
fertile-minded Matthew Henry, (the evangelical commenta- 
tor,) and the exceedingly sprightly and elegant moral poet, 
Thomas Parnel. And as to the castle, it is a magnificent 
modern erection, but on the site of the old castle which had 
been built by the Conqueror, and which was the seat, in for- 
mer times, of the Earls of Chester. — I would only add in re- 
lation to the city of which I am writing, that it was, in the 
days of the Romans, a station of their army ; and we know 
not only this in the general, but also we know of the fact, in 
particular, of the Twentieth Legion having been posted 
there about thirty years after the death of the Saviour, or 
about contemporaneously with Luke's writing of his Grospel, 
and with Paul's writing of his Epistle to the Ephesians. In 
connection with this statement, I may remark that a Roman 

28 



338 TRAVELS IN FRANCE 

altar is still in existence, now in the possession of a nobleman 
in the vicinity, the Marquis of Westminster, that was dug up 
in said place ; which altar had been consecrated, by the le- 
gion spoken of, as the inscription chiseled on it states, to 
the Nymphs and Fountains. 

Having gratified my curiosity in staying in, and looking 
at, during parts of two days, the ancient and venerable City 
of Chester, I returned to Birkenhead, and thence soon found 
my way to my place of tarrying, in Liverpool. 

Yours, &c., M. F. 



On Shipboard in the Mersey, Opposite ] 
Liverpool, — Wednesdai/, the 12th. j 

P. S. — You will perceive from the date on the first page 
that this letter has been written two days. But I kept it 
unsealed in my pocket till now. I have leave to go ashore, 
for the last time, for an hour ; and, soon after that, our offi- 
cers expect a steam-tug to come to take us out to sea. I 
came finally and fully on board, on yesterday. I ought to 
add that, since I moved my baggage into the ship, (I myself 
being also aboard at the time,) there has been quite a heavy 
firing from the batteries on the river, the meaning of which 
we out of the town were, at the time of its occurrence, unable 
to divine. However, it was soon explained to us that the 
news had been telegraphed that the Allies have, at long 
last, (on the 8th inst.,) taken Sebastopol, or rather only the 
south side of that city. And verily the Liverpool cannon 
have not failed, with all their throats, to triumph loudly be- 
cause thereof. Thus we are about to leave Europe simul- 
taneously with an event that is supposed to involve the ter- 
mination of the most terrible siege of modern days. At Se- 
bastopol, the Russians, — though the tyrants of Poland they 
are, and the enemies everywhere of liberal institutions, — have 
covered themselves with glory. Yet every friend of civiliza- 
tion, of liberty, of human progress, and of Bible Christianity, 
ought to rejoice that French and British bravery and skill 
have become victorious; thus preventing Russia, at least 
till after the lapse of many years, from gaining the supremacy 
among the nations. 



AND THE BRITISH ISLANDS. 339 



NO. XXXI. 

Now in New York — Detained — Occupied in Writing out, &c. — Tugged from Liverpool 
Docks to Sea by, &c. — Head Winds — A IMountain in Kerry the Last, &c. — Course — 
Brief Hurricane — A Severe Gale — A Death — Average per Diem Headway — Gulf 
Stream — Bank of Newfoundland — Sea-Weed — The Petrel — The Hagnel — Porpoises 
— A Black Fish — Young Whales — A Shark — Company — Preaching — Sunset — Pilot- 
Boat — Lighthouse Light visible — Into New York Bay — Voyage up — Ketrosi^ect — 
French Agricultx:re — Forests — English Agriculture — Woods — Horses and Cattle — 
Crops — Cobbet and Maize — Draining — Fences — Homesteads of the Wealthy — Scotch 
Agriculture — Farms too Large — Irish Agriculture — Central Plateau of Ireland — 
The Proportion of Crops, Relatively to, &c. — Improvement — Life, Property and 
Reputation, (Security as to,) — Morals and Religion in France — Catholicism — Protest- 
antism — Morals and Religion in England — Defects — Established Church of Eng- 
land — Its Parties — Dissenters — Morals and Religion in Scotland — Religious Denomi- 
nations — Morals and Religion in Ireland — Temperance in, &c.-^E.eligious Denomiuar 
tions — Their States, &c. — Concluding of, &c. "'' 

New York, October, 1855. 

My last letter to you was put into tlie Liverpool post- 
office on the 12th ultimo, and all the intervening time be- 
tween that date and that of two days ftac^has been spent on 
board the American Union in plowing the waters of the At- 
lantic. I got my trunks fully clear of the ship this morning, 
and I would now be on my way home if it were not for some 
small dutiable articles which I have brought across with me, 
that I cannot receive for a short time. 

Meanwhile, I am occupying my spare minutes in writing 
out some account of my voyage, and in making some miscel- 
laneous reflections on some matters of a general interest that 
passed under my notice while in France and the British 
Islands. 

I sailed from Liverpool on Wednesday, the 12th of Sep- 
tember, — the day on which, I have said, I mailed my letter, — 
and, as this is Wednesday, the 17th of October, thus just 
five weeks ago. When our ship took up anchor, the wind 
being unfavorable, she was tugged out to sea by a steam-tug. 
A little before night, we had fully entered upon the broad 
waters of the Irish channel, leaving behind us Old England, — 

"That fortress built by nature for herself; " 
*' That precious stone set in the silver sea 

Which serves it, in the office of a wall, 

Or as a moat, defensive to a house." 

For a few hours the breeze in the channel was propitious, 



340 TRAVELS IN FRANCE 

but only for a few hours. Owing to head-winds we were a 
week before we had doubled the southern point of Ireland, 
Cape Clear. Then, on account of the wind, we kept, for 
some time, (tacking after every short while,) a northwest 
course. On the morning of Friday, the 21st, I took my last 
look of Ireland ; the last land visible being one of the lofty 
mountains of the County Kerry. Though commencing our 
voyage by keeping northwest, our captain determined to 
make his passage by a somewhat southern track, and thus, 
in a few days, we found ourselves in a more southern latitude. 
I do not intend to weary you with the tedious details of our 
voyage. It will suffice to mention a few things. On Mon- 
day, the 24th of September, just after sunrise, we had a hur- 
ricane which lasted, however, only three-quarters of an hour. 
If the officers of the ship had not been warned by the baro- 
meter, there might have been considerable danger. Again, 
on Wednesday, the 26th, we had a tremendous gale which 
lasted eight hours. It tore our sails, though trimmed to 
meet its coming, into fragments, and I have learned, since 
reaching this city, that most ships other than our own, ex- 
posed to it, were dismasted. In this gale, the danger of 
perishing was not slight. After the wind had been blowing 
for three or four hours, the waves rose to a vast height. I 
doubt whether they ever rise higher. It is said they may 
surge to thirty-two feet above the level of the sea, and that 
the valley between them may, in depth, be as much. This 
may give you a vague idea of the plunges that our vessel 
had to make, and of the huge trough in which she had some- 
times to lie. The occurrence of a very small accident, while 
thus tossed, might have been fatal. But Providence kindly 
watched over us. Two days after this storm, (at 8 p.m. of 
the 28th,) a young man, a respectable mechanic, died. When 
the voyage commenced, he had been healthy and vigorous, 
but, owing to an impaired action of the organs of digestion, 
a disease very common at sea, had become sickly. During 
the tremendous heavirigs of the vessel in the late storm, he 
had received a severe fall. These two causes co-operating 
brought on his death. He was buried on the morning of 
the 29th. 

Our ship, in her late voyage, made, on an average, one 
hundred miles, in a straight line, each twenty-four hours, 
toward the port of her destination, and this, the first mate 



AND THE BRITISH ISLANDS, 341 

told me, is ahout the medium of what is accomplislied by 
ships bound westward from Europe ; though ships from 
America to Europe, on account of the prevalence of winds 
from the west on the Atlantic and of the direction of the 
current in the sea between Europe and America, voyage 
much faster. A voyage by a sail-ship is usually exceedingly 
dull and monotonous, and mine has been no exception to the 
general rule. Yet there were not wanting things to give it 
variety. 

We passed the Gulf Stream, (crossing it with a slant,) near 
where it grazes the southern extremity of the bank of jSTew- 
foundland, coming on this bank at eight o'clock of the morning 
of Wednesday, October 3d, and leaving it at ten of the morn- 
ing of October 4th ; our ship while on it, on an average, 
running seven knots an hour. And here it may not be out 
of place to say that that great ocean current, (the Stream,) 
and this great submarine plateau, (the bank,) were to me 
themes of unceasing curiosity so long as I was in contact 
with either. The bank of Newfoundland, (celebrated for its 
fishery,) is six hundred miles in length, and at its greatest 
breadth two hundred miles ; has a varying depth of from 
twenty-five to ninety-five fathoms; and lies on a bottom of 
solid rock. Also, its water is sixteen degrees colder than 
tlie surrounding water, so that, by testing it with a ther- 
mometer, one can easily tell when he has crossed it. And as 
to the Gulf Stream ; coming from the West Indies, skirting 
along the shores of the United States, and then going over 
the Atlantic, (its indigo-blue colored water being, by five de- 
grees, warmer than the contiguous sea, and, by twenty-one 
degrees, warmer than that on the bank,) how much wonder 
may it reasonably be expected to excite ! Where we passed 
the Stream it is eighty marine leagues in width, and, in addi- 
tion to this actual width, its heat is felt very far beyond it in 
the waters of the Atlantic ; something of this warmth, it is 
said, being perceptible for even a thousand miles. While 
crossing this mysterious ocean-river, one is perpetually inte- 
rested in watching the innumerable small green bunches of 
sea- weed or fucus, which float on it, with long and narrow 
fleshy leaves shooting out from slender stems. Sometimes 
this weed has little circular pods which look like its fruit. 
Does said sea-weed grow on the bosom of the waters ? Or 
dees it grow at the bottom ? Or has it its origin in the fucus 

28* 



842 TRAVELS IN FHANCE 

banks lying, one in 24° north latitude, and the other in 31° 
north ; both being in about 60° west from Greenwich ? 

Then, also, the appearance of ships, of fish, and of birds, 
breaks in upon the monotony of a sea-voyage. Ships were 
occasionally visible in the distance, and they seldom, in 
pleasant weather, passed without being inspected by me by 
a powerful telescope. But the birds and fish were greater 
objects of curiosity than the ships. Especially, the little 
petrel, though to me, by no means, a stranger, was an object 
of notice. These little birds, otherwise called Mother Gary's 
Chickens, often show themselves in great numbers. They 
are either of a brownish, or of a sooty-black, and appear 
never to alight. For the sake of collecting grease or other 
food, they will often skim, as if with a rapid tiptoe running- 
walk, along the water, suspending themselves by the extend- 
ing of their wings. When they emit any voice, they cry 
weet, weet ; which, as one class of them at least, the stormy 
petrel, is supposed to come as a presage of a storm, the 
sailors interpret to be the words, wet, wet, — the little bird 
thus meaning to say, it seems, stormy, stormy. It is said to 
be named petrel from its walking on the water as the Apostle 
Peter did. Another bird, that, when nearing the New World, 
excited my curiosity, was a very large one called the hagnel. 
As to its character, I was ignorant, and was not able to get 
any valuable information. Perhaps some one better fur- 
nished with books of reference than I am just now, can tell 
you all about it. At all events, it is a bold sea-going bird, 
and a strong flier. Nor, as I came across, were varieties of 
fish lacking, to break in upon the monotony of my seafaring. 
We were visited, — I mean, so far as I saw, — by various com- 
panies of porpoises, by a black fish, by three young whales, 
(mere puppies when compared with cetaceous monsters that 
I have before seen,) and by a huge shark or sharks. 

But what contributes more than anything else to break in 
upon the dull sameness of a sea voyage is the society into 
which the traveler is temporarily cast. Among those with 
whom I had most intercourse were two Scotchmen, (one a 
resident of New York, and the other a farmer in Canada,) 
a Canadian who had served as a captain of the revoltists 
during the civil commotions of British America some years 
ago, an Irish physician, (a resident of England, and in reli- 
gion a Roman Catholic,) a young Englishman, (son to an 



AND THE BRITISH ISLANDS. 343 

old wooden-legged commander of the British navy in the 
time of the Xapoleon wars,) a young Irishman from the 
Catholic College of Louvain, a Scotch Baptist lady, a lady 
belonging to the Sisters of Charity, and a Jew from Russia, 
who had been serving in the Russian cavalry in the Crimea, 
but who, having been forced to enlist, had deserted. With 
all of these I had conversations on all sorts of subjects. 
Having preached on the second Sabbath after our depar- 
ture from the Mersey, and, in the discourse, having quoted 
Isaiah, vii. 14, — "Therefore the Lord himself shall give you 
a sign ; Behold a virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and 
shall call his name Immanuel," — the Jew spoken of, after 
religious services were over, came to me and entered into 
conversation. He referred to the quotation that I« had made 
from the seventh chapter of Isaiah, afiirming that the text 
quoted should have been rendered " a young woman shall con- 
ceive." He quoted authorities in favor of this view, throw- 
ing upon me the burden of proving that the word translated, 
in our Bible, " virgin," should have any more restricted mean- 
ing than what he gave it. To him I briefly replied with the 
arguments ordinarily employed by Christians in relation to 
this matter, so far as they occurred to me ; — these arguments 
being, that the intention of Isaiah, in the passage under con- 
sideration, was to confirm faith, in those who would, in their 
day, witness the fulfillment of the prophecy, by a miraculous 
sign, and that there would not be anything extraordinary in a 
young woman's bearing a child, but that it would be a miracle 
that a virgin should ; that those who have examined the mat- 
ter most thoroughly have told us that the Chaldea paraphrase 
on the verse, and the Septuagint translation of it, both ex- 
plain the word under discussion to denote a virgin, and that 
no higher authorities as to the ancient meaning of Hebrew 
words can be found; that the Apostles knew Hebrew 
well, and that they take the word to mean virgin; and 
that if the word, in the passage under dispute, so trans- 
lated, have not this sense, then, (other words used as 
synonymes, being still more liable to a similar objection,) 
there is no term in the Hebrew language for virgin. I 
need scarcely tell you that he was, by no means, satisfied. 
And, as to myself, I had no desire to engage in a protracted 
discussion. He lent me several Hebrew works, with which 
class of books he was abundantly supplied, and also gave 



344 TRAVELS IN FRANCE 

me a portion of the j^early file of a Jewish newspaper. I 
found him an exceedingly intelligent man, one versed in 
several modern tongues, — the Russian, Turkish, French, and 
English. Another Jew, his companion, was also intelligent, 
and, like him, conversable. As these men did not belong to 
the same class of passengers with me, I would have formed 
no acquaintance with them if I had not been thrown into 
contact with them in consequence of my preaching. But, 
though I conversed frequently with the prior-spoken-of Jew, 
(about Russia, her late Czar, her clergy, and her army,) I 
had still more talk with the other persons referred to above. 
Indeed, with them I was necessarily in unceasing contact. 
With the Canadians, I frequently discussed politics. One of 
them, I said, had been in the revolt, (in the years 1837-38,) 
in the Canadas. And another, by birth a Scotchman, as has 
been already mentioned, told me that he did not know a single 
Scotchman in those colonies, — a wonderful metamorphosis, 
within the last fifty years, in the Scottish character, — who 
had not been in arms, during the outbreak in them, where an 
opportunity was within his reach. Yet both these men agreed 
in asserting the people of British America to be now loyal to 
the British crown. Both expressed themselves in kindly 
terms toward the United States, though they affirmed these 
to be worse governed than their own country. In proof of 
their assertion, one of them went to his trunk and brought me 
a number of a newspaper published at Toronto, "The News 
of the Week," (of July 21, 1855,) in which the statement 
is made, — a statement, for whose contradiction I was unpre- 
pared, — that no bank had failed in Canada during nineteen 
years, while that, in the United States, three hundred and 
sixty-seven banks had suspended payment in the last year. 
They asked whether a nation, the currency of which was in 
such a state, could be viewed as intelligently, or, in any 
sense, well governed. But I will not trouble you with 
farther accounts of the various conversations that I had on 
shipboard. Suffice it to say that they were often interest- 
ing, and, at all times, served to while away that tedium 
which, in a voyage across the Atlantic in a sail-ship, becomes 
so irksome. 

But I cannot pretend to give you an account of my voy- 
age, however succinct, without saying something of some 
of the sunrises that I saw when approaching America, and 



AND THE BRITISH ISLANDS. 345 

especially one particularly glorious sunset. Such sunrises 
are, I believe, never seen on land. First would be seen a 
dull light amid the far-spread darkness ; then a streak ; then 
a tinge ; then a rosy blush ; then a brightness, making the 
cloudlets in the east to appear successively like dull copper, 
like gold, like immense flame-colored tableaux of glass, and 
then like a hot furnace filled with intensely bright and fluid 
gold. While, amid the fiery drapery of the eastern concave, 
would come forth, looking like an orb of fire, the sun him- 
self. These splendors, however, I ought to remark, being 
indicative of wet and foul weather. On the occasion of the 
sunset referred to, there was a glory attendant on the with- 
drawal of the great luminary, to which no recollections can 
do the faintest justice. In it were combined far more than 
the beauty, brilliancy, and sprighliness, of the merry dancers 
of the Shetlands, and far more than the splendor and gor- 
geousness of an Italian sunset. Around it gathered, (chaos 
blending with order,) immense masses of clouds, resting on 
the face of the azure of the sky; green, gold, and crimson, 
delicately penciled and ever-changing, appearing around the 
well-defined outlines of these clouds, and an intense red, the 
prognostic surely indicating fair weather, characterizing 
their centre and its adjacent parts. I have often admired 
Thomson's poetic description of the splendors of a sunset, 
yet even it falls far short of the magnificent spectacle wit- 
nessed by me on the occasion of which I am speaking. But, 
though the description of the great descriptive poet falls 
short, it is so beautiful that I cannot but think it appro- 
priate to quote. He says, — 

" Low walks the Sun, and broadens, by degrees, 
Just o'er the verge of day. The shifting clouds 
Assembled gay, a rich gorgeous train, 
In all their pomp, attend his setting throne. 
Air, earth, and ocean, smile immense. And now, 
As if his weary chariot sought the bowers 
Of Amphitrite and her attending nymphs, 
(So Grecian fable sung,) he dips his orb, — 
Is^ow half immersed ; and now, a golden curve. 
Gives one bright glance: then total disappears." 

So wrote the poet, and his delineation is certainly, beyond 
measure, rich and gorgeous. Yet its generalness is such as 
to prevent it from giving any adequate conception of the 
scene that I have, just now, in my mind's eye. 



346 TRAVELS IN FRANCE 

At length, on Tlinrsday, tlie llth inst., our ship being 
still very far out at sea, a New York pilot-boat approached 
us and furnished us with a pilot. 

Next, our vessel reached, on the 13th inst., — Saturday, — 
near enough to the American coast for us to have a view, 
before daybreak, of a light. But, on account of a strong 
wind off the land, we were, through Saturday, still strug- 
gling to approach the mouth of New York Bay ; and when 
I awoke, on Sabbath morning, I foiind that we were scarcely 
in as favorable position as we had occupied on the evening 
before. Eventually, we came within a few miles. Even 
yet, we did not feel ourselves secure, since the bay cannot 
be readily entered by sail-ships except with a wind from one 
particular quarter, and vessels as near as ours have often 
been blown off for a week. But our uneasiness was finally 
dispelled by the approach of a steam-tug which ventured 
through the rough waters to us and brought us in. Thus 
did we reach a place where we were secure against being 
carried out to sea again in any possible contingency. Nor 
did we willingly make any long delays after we had entered 
the bay till we made our way to this city, only stopping 
once (though that stop involved a long detention) in our 
way up. Of our voyage up, I will only say that, during it, 
our eyes were unceasingly feasted by the sight of the green 
shores of Staten Island and Long Island, coupled with 
views, in quick succession, of woods, of country-seats, of 
villages, of ships of all sizes under sail, and of dashing steam- 
boats moving rapidly in all directions. 

I will wind up this imperfect account of my voyage, by 
saying that our ship now lies in the safe and spacious har- 
bor of New York, one of the noblest and most beautiful any- 
where to be found. I have seen many, and I have seen 
none to surpass, and few to equal it ; a harbor which occu- 
pies the wide circuit of twenty-five miles, — with a width of 
from about a mile and a half to five miles and a half, and 
with a depth of water sufficient for the largest ships of war, 
— and which could contain in its spacious land-locked basin 
the united navies of the world. There she now lies off the 
Battery, and not very far from Governor's Island ; (an ex- 
panse of about seventy acres, and containing three strong 
fortifications;) she being, also, in full view of Bedloe's Islet, 
rendered so picturesque by the battery on it and by the trees 



AND THE BRITISH ISLANDS. 34t 

planted along its rampart, and of Ellis's Islet, (once Gibbet 
Islet,) on which, in days long past, buccaneers and other 
pirates so often paid the penalty of the offences committed 
by them in their free rovings on the ocean. She has borne 
us safely across the Atlantic, and may she be spared to 
make many another prosperous passage. 

Proceeding on the presumptio7i that you would wish to 
learn something further of the countries visited by me than 
what I have already communicated in the letters that I ad- 
dressed to you at various times during my absence, I will, in 
the sequel of this letter, say something, — though in a way 
somewhat abstract, — of two or three things that I have 
hitherto pretty much passed by, but which are of such im- 
portance that it would be an unpardonable oversight to omit 
altogether the special mention of them. As my time here 
will, in all likelihood, be short, I will necessarily be very 
brief in what I will say. In the remarks which I am about 
to make, I will confine myself to the three general heads of 
agriculture, of security as to life, property, and reputation, 
and that of morals and religion. And I will rather passingly 
touch on these great topics than attempt to discuss them. 

In my journeyings through France and the British Islands, 
I have perpetually had an eye to the state of agriculture. 
This art is, of all others, the most indispensable to national 
prosperity. Without skill in it, no nation can rise high. 
One who comes from France to Britain, is at once struck 
with the difference between the rural landscapes of the two 
countries. In France the country is perfectly open, the 
lands being unenclosed by fences or hedges, while in Eng- 
land the country is divided into enclosures of two, five, ten, 
twenty, or fifty acres. In the former, fields are divided 
from each other merely by a furrow, and even farms are 
separated by nothing more than slight ditches, or ridges, 
with occasional rows of trees. In the latter, every field, to 
say nothing of farms or estates, is separated from contigu- 
ous fields by quickset hedges or other substantial fences. 
Also, in France there are but few farmhouses, (and only here 
and there an old chateau,) standing by themselves, husband- 
men mostly living in villages; while England is dotted over 
with such domicils. Again, the roads in France are gene- 
rally unenclosed, depredations being prevented by old men 
acting as guards; while, in England, they wind along 



348 TRAVELS IN FRANCE 

througli close hedges often almost impenetrable to vision, 
and look not unlike canals between deep banks. More- 
over, in England one misses the vineyards with vines in rows 
and hills, — and each clump of vines supported by a stick 
from three to four and a half feet in length, — which frequently 
met my view in some parts of France, especially in the val- 
ley of the Seine. < 

With respect to French agriculture, I would observe that 
it differs very widely from what we are used to in the United 
States. In these, farms vary from fifty, eighty, one hun- 
dred and sixty, and three hundred acres in the Xorth, up 
to six hundred, one thousand, and even two or three thou- 
sand acres, or more, in the South. On the other hand, French 
farms, though occasionally large, only reach the average 
size of five acres a piece. In the one country, — the differ- 
ence in the state of things arising from the difference in the 
size of farms, — horses, improved agricultural implements, 
and machinery, are much more in use than in the other. 
Yet the Frenchman raises a great deal more off the same 
quantity of soil than the American can. One is struck, in 
traveling along the roads in France, with the small number 
of cattle that he meets with in the fields. I only recollect 
to have seen in that country, out of doors, something short 
of half a dozen cows. The reason of this is that French 
agriculturalists, instead of pasturing their cattle upon the 
ground where the grass grows, cut down the herbage and 
give it to them, green or in hay, in the stable. I was struck, 
in France, with a sort of plows, that I saw in use, and that 
I have never met with in America. These plows are called 
the Walloon plows, and are furnished, each, with two wheels 
fixed to the beam : they are intended for plowing deep in 
heavy lands. And, when speaking of French agriculture, I 
ought not to omit to say a w^ord in reference to the kindred 
subject of French forests; — kindred, I call it, since I have 
occasionally seen the farm and the forest to be side by side. 
The forests of France are often of considerable size ; that of 
Fontainbleau containing thirty-five thousand acres, and that 
of Chambord, twenty thousand. I, however, w^as not in either 
the one or the other of these. But I have passed, traveling 
by railroad, through the Forest of St. Germain, and may 
therefore make some reference to it of my personal know- 
ledge. The timber, as a general thing, seemed small, when 



AND THE BRITISH ISLANDS. 349. 

compared with what I have seen in America, yet it was 
thrifty. Forests and woods in France are objects of special 
governmental care. This arises from the scarcity of timber, 
and from the indispensableness of the article for fuel ; wood 
and charcoal being mainly employed for this use. For these 
reasons, among others, it is illegal to cut woods oftener than 
once in the period of eighteen years. 

In England, the agricultural art has been carried to great 
perfection. At the time of the invasion of the Conqueror, it 
was in an exceedingly rude state, but, owing to the transplan- 
tation across the channel, at that epoch, from Normandy and 
Flanders, of skillful husbandmen, it has ever since been on 
the advance. And the husbandmen were urged on in their 
improvements by the nobility and clergy. The deep interest 
generally taken in the practice of the art may be learned 
from the fact that Thomas A'Becket, even when Archbishop 
of Canterbury, used to assist in making hay and in reaping 
harvest. At the present time English agriculture is in a 
most flourishing condition. The horses, the black-cattle, 
the sheep, the swine, the poultry, the fields, the hedges and 
fences, the tools, the machinery, the herbage, the crops, — all 
indicate a high state of progress in rural economy. Some 
of the things, that most strongly draw the notice of a stran- 
ger looking at the farms of England, may as well be briefly 
noticed. 

In gazing upon an English landscape, one cannot fail to 
be struck with the wooded appearance that the country pre- 
sents. Everywhere trees and groves meet the eye in all di- 
rections. Indeed, there are no less than upwards of sixty 
thousand acres of royal forest alone. It is certain that, of 
all countries long inhabited by a civilized people, South 
Britain is one of those best supplied with both the useful 
and ornamental woods. 

Again, in sojourning in a country new to us, we are apt 
to inspect closely the horses and other cattle. This I was 
led to do, while in England. With respect to horses, about 
two-thirds of them, or one million of horses, are estimated 
to be employed, in England and Wales, in farm work ; two 
horses being ordinarily made use of for the tilling of each 
forty acres, — while oxen are used, more or less, for the per- 
formance of agricultural labor, in some counties, but only in 
some. Some of the draft-horses far exceed in size the Co- 

2y ■ 



350 TRAVELS IN FRANCE 

nestoga horse of Pennsylvania, large tliongh he is ; being, 
in some few instances, seven and one-half feet high, and, 
every way, proportioned to this height, and possessing, along 
with their immense size and weight, (but with great slowness 
of movement,) almost the strength of the elephant. Those 
horses not used in doing farm labor, in the same territory, 
are reckoned to amount to about five hundred thousand, and 
are largely, — though far from being so exclusively, — of the 
breed called hunters ; a cross-breed having in their veins the 
blood of the old European horse, mingled, in various pro- 
portions, with that of the Arab, Persian, and Barbary. It 
is this cross-breed that furnishes the war-steed, the true 
''fiery Pegasus." With respect to black-cattle. South Bri- 
tain has long been celebrated. Her various breeds, (the 
Cravens, the Cauleys, and the Dishleys ; and the Holder- 
nesses, the Teaswaters, the Yorkshires, the Durhams, and the 
JSTorthumberlands,) are sought for by the improvers of stock, 
everywhere, and highly valued. 

Again, while in England, the crops raised were things that 
drew my notice. I learned that about one-half of the lands 
capable of cultivation are under pasturage or meadow. This 
is one of the things that give at once beauty and richness to 
the country. Wheat is, of course, a grand staple. The 
quantity raised on an acre, as I was told by a farmer, ranges 
from ten to sixty bushels, about twenty-five bushels being 
the medium. The other crops are, barley, peas, beans, pota- 
toes, turnips, carrots, flax, hemp, hops, and mangel-wurzel. 
An attempt was made, about thirty years ago, by the late 
Honorable William Cobbett, to introduce Indian-corn, but 
it proved a failure. Of all countries, England, — along with 
Scotland and Ireland, — is the country for the turnip, its 
broad leaves imbibing nourishment from the circumambient 
moist atmosphere. 

Again, drainage forms an important department of Eng- 
lish husbandry. There are, of course, several ways of drain- 
ing land. That now most in vogue is tile-draining. The 
tile is usually made like a pipe, but instead of being entirely 
round, is open on the side to be put downmost in the drain, 
the edges overlapping each other. It is a principle that no 
drain should exceed three hundred yards in length. In making 
this sort of improvements, large ditches are cut like canals, 
each of these ditches ending in a natural stream. Then, be- 
tween said ditches, small reservoirs are constructed. Into 



AND THE BRITISH ISLANDS. 351 

each reservoir, earthen or tile pipes, (such as described,) 
convey the moisture to be carried off. And in connection 
with these things, a large tile-pipe conducts the water from 
each reservoir into the canal excavated for its reception. In 
this manner, the excess of water readily makes its way into 
natural channels. 

Again, in traveling, the character of the fences is almost 
necessarily an object of attention. One sees, in England, 
very little of the post-and-rail fence of some parts of the 
United States, and nothing at all of their worm-fence. She 
has, however, in lieu, what is both more beautiful and more 
permanent, white-thorn and holly hedges ; kinds of fences, 
that, with proper trimming and cutting, may be made to last 
for centuries. She has also, though sparingly, wire, and 
even iron fences. In addition to these sorts, there is also 
another kind to be met with in the domains of the gentry ; 
I speak of the sunken fence. This sort of fence is formed by 
digging a very deep and broad trench, and by then cutting 
off one side of this trench so as to form, from the bottom, an 
ascent at an angle of about forty-five degrees ; the other side 
being allowed to remain in what is nearly a perpendicular. 
Such fences give an apparent amplitude to the fields, and con- 
tribute to give spaciousness and grandeur to the landscape. 
They would perhaps be, of all the artificial means employed 
for the division of portions of land, the most eligible in many 
cases, if it were not that they are liable to fill up. 

And again, in passing through a country we are led to 
look closely at the farm-houses. These, in England, are 
often of restricted size, and thatched. In this point of view, 
that country is far behind the old parts of this. The reason, 
no doubt, is that here the farmer owns the soil in fee-simple, 
while there he holds it upon lease. Yet, though a renter, he 
is often quite as rich as his American brother. But, as the 
land is not his, he will make no improvements that will not 
make a return within the period of his tenure. I ought to 
add that there are many farm-houses that are exceptions to 
this general statement. 

When writiiig in relation to the agriculture and farms of 
England, I ought not, by any means, to omit reference to 
the homesteads of the titled and wealthy. These are upon 
a scale so grand that, it is hard to form a conception of it, 
without a pergonal inspection of them. And they are to be 
met with everywhere, all over the face of the country. Some 



35^' TRAVELS IN FRANCE 

few, however, are specially celebrated. At the head of these 
few are to be put, the homesteads of Earl Spencer, "of the 
Duke of Richmond, and of the Duke of Devonshire. 
That of Earl Spencer contains ten thousand acres, that of 
the Duke of Richmond twenty-three thousand, and that of 
the Duke of Devonshire, three thousand five hundred. The 
parks, and forest, connected with Windsor Castle, far, almost 
inconceivably far, exceed even these. But, while looking 
over them, and ready to blame the extravagance displayed in 
the appropriation of so much land to purposes of mere 
pleasure, I was corrected in my opinion by being told that 
that vast expanse of royal domain, over which I was gazing, 
was mainly used as a vast stock-farm. So, also, probably is 
the case with the enclosures of the noblemen above named. 
Of these men, the one last named was, probably, a few years 
ago, the most opulent man, in income from landed property, in 
the world ; (not even the richest of the princes and dukes of 
Russia, Austria, or Great Britain, excepted;) his yearly in- 
come having been, it is affirmed, one half million pounds ster- 
ling, per year. Yet I ought to add, in order to my giving a 
correct idea of things as they are, that if there be vast estates 
in England, there are, along with these, very many small 
ones ; two hundred pounds a year being the average value 
of English estates. I will only further remark, in relation 
to this topic, that the homesteads and parks, of the nobility 
and gentry of England, are always enriched and beautified 
with woods and groves, these being mostly made up of the 
most highly val-ued sorts of timber ; the oak, the beech, the 
chestnut, the ash, the elm, the yew, and the various species 
of pine, being more particularly prevalent. 

Having said so much of the agriculture of South Britain, 
I will be comparatively brief in regard to that of Scotland 
and Ireland. 

As it respects agriculture, Scotland is, in the general, even 
in advance of her southern sister ; at least, such is the case 
with the lowlands. Perhaps in the Lothians, (that is, Had- 
dington, Edinburgh, and Linlithgow shires,) and in some 
other parts of the country, the very best farmers in the world 
are to be met with. I have thought that the most objec- 
tionable thing about Scotch farming is the size of the farms. 
These often include a thousand acres, and, in pasture-dis- 
tricts, often two thousand five hundred, and even five thou- 
sand acres. This is, at once a great agricultural, social, and 



AND THE BRITISH ISLANDS. 353 

political evil. No farm in an old country should exceed one 
hundred and fifty, or, at most, three hundred acres. The 
fact is, there is no evil so great as the one of which I speak, 
except the existence of a vast number of petty farms, with no 
large ones commingled. Scotland, though, in many parts 
well wooded, is, in many places, very bare of trees ; yet, to 
compensate for this, she has immense pine and fir forests, 
some of these being natural, and others planted by the great 
landowners. In some parts of North Britain, the wages of 
farm-laborers are better than in England. Thus I was in- 
formed that, in the latter-named country, harvest-hands get, 
for the cutting of an acre of grain, eight, ten, twelve, and 
occasionally fourteen shillings, cosnet, as I heard it called, 
(that is, boarding and lodging themselves,) while, in the 
former-named country, they get nearly this and are boarded. 
I would only add, that the crops raised in the two countries 
are much alike, only that the more northern climate pro- 
duces a smaller quantity of wheat, but, to make up in some 
small degree for this, a larger quantity of oats of an extra- 
ordinary fine quality. 

As to the state of agriculture in Ireland, I would observe 
that, with some few exceptions, it is considerably behind 
what is its state in England and Scotland. Indeed, in the 
British Islands a gradation may be remarked from the very 
best agriculture in the world to that which, at the best, is 
indifferent. The various steps downward, in the progress 
of this gradation, may be thus expressed : first, Kent and 
the Lothians; secondly, the West of England, Wales, and 
a portion of Scotland ; thirdly, the eastern and northern 
parts of Ireland ; and, fourthly, the western and southern 
parts of Ireland. In Ireland, farms vary greatly in size. 
The larger number ranges from five up to forty acres, 
though some are mere lots of one acre each ; while many 
amount to one hundred, one hundred and fifty, and two hun- 
dred acres. I here speak of farms in use for the raising of 
grain. However, though, as I have said, grain-raising farms 
are mostly small, Irish pasture-farms are frequently very 
large. Thus, in the County of Boscommon, and the same 
is true of some other counties, good farms range from five 
hundred to a thousand acres ; and even larger farms than 
these are to be met with, five hundred acres being sometimes 
contained in a single field. In the County of Cork, a single 

29* 



354 TRAVELS IN FRANCE 

farmer will sometimes have on his farm from one hundred to 
two hundred milch cows. And the sward on which these feed 
will, in many instances, not have been broken for one hun- 
dred and fifty years ; the richness of the milk being en- 
hanced by the oldness of the sward. The great central pla- 
teau of Ireland is mainly limestone — which, it is well known, 
always is in conjunction with a strong and fertile soil. And, 
beginning in the County Sligo, in the northwest, there runs 
through the island, in a southeastern direction, a rich tract 
of land, called the golden vein. So rich is this tract, that 
the milk of the cattle fed on its grass is unfit for being con- 
verted into butter; the butter made from it being too strong 
for use on the table. Perhaps I may assist you in forming 
an idea of the rural economy of Ireland by giving, from a 
table before me, the proportion of the chief crops raised in 
it in the last year, (1854.) In doing this, satisfied with 
a vague approximation, I will avoid all fractional calcula- 
tions. Oats, which, there, are nearly as large as small 
wheat, constitute the capital crop ; two millions forty-three 
thousand four hundred and sixty-six acres of land having 
been employed in raising this grain, in the year named. In 
that year, there were cultivated nearly five acres of oats to 
one of wheat; about eight acres of oats to one of barley; 
about twenty-nine acres of the same grain to one of here and 
rye ; about forty to one of beans and peas ; nearly two and- 
three-fourths acres to one of potatoes; about six acres to 
one of turnips ; and about fourteen acres to one of flax. 
Flax, there, like cotton in the southern parts of this coun- 
try, is one of the most profitable crops. But, to grow well, 
it requires a rich, sandy loam. About four-fifths of the 
population live by agriculture. Once, (and to a considera- 
ble extent yet,) the potato was the main dependence of the 
laborer's children for food. But the loss of that crop, in the 
years 1845-6-Y, has greatly lessened his dependence on this 
esculent. In the year 184t alone, no less than two million 
tons of this staple food of the poor man's family, in conse- 
quence of the potato disease, were lost. To what I have 
said, I would merely add that the agricultural department 
of Irish industry is evidently advancing, in the march of im- 
provement, with rapid strides. The moors, the fields, the 
fences, the agricultural implements, in fact everything con- 
nected with the business of farming, all testify to this. 
You will allow me here to observe that what I have said 



AND THE BRITISH ISLANDS. 



355* 



of the agriculture and rural economy of England is so ap- 
plicable, — after the explanatory statements that have just 
been made, — to Scotland and Ireland, that, with respect to 
their husbandry, I have felt at liberty to be briefer than in 
relation to that of the first-named country. 

I now proceed to say a few words as to the security of 
life, property, and reputation, enjoyed by the inhabitants of 
France and of the British Islands. It is certain that secu- 
rity as to these things is, of all worldly things, the most im- 
portant to man's happiness. If an individual lie under a 
reasonable apprehension of losing these, or any of these, the 
cup from which he drinks must evermore be embittered. 
Indeed, the security of life, property, and good name, is 
one of the capital ends, — or, I might say, the capital 
end, — for which civil government exists, and, according 
as it accomplishes this end or fails to accomplish it, is 
it good or bad. But mere government taken alone, and by 
itself, cannot give men security.' The character of those 
with whom we live in propinquity, and with whom we have 
social and business intercourse, has much to do with the 
degree of our security. If the persons with whom we are 
conversant be reckless of life or blood-thirsty, if they be dis- 
honest or untruthful, or if they be disregardful of the fair 
fame of their neighbors, then, no matter what may be the 
political institutions under which we live, we are unsafe. 
No laws can possibly afford us adequate protection. And 
here I would explain that I do not speak of absolute but 
merely of comparative security. A freedom from the possi- 
bility of injury or wrong, that will be above the reach of all 
contingencies, does not belong to earth. 

In France^ the laws with respect to life, possessorial 
rights, and good name, are as reasonable, and are applied 
to particular cases with as much discretion and justice, as 
in any other country in the world. The French, with all 
their military dispositions, are not, when compared with 
other nations of European blood, addicted, disproportion- 
ately to their numbers, to murder. JSFor are they a dis- 
honest people. They do not seek money with any extraor- 
dinary avidity, nor usually by dishonest means. Neither is 
France a country in which slander of either the living or 
the dead is particularly indulged in. Nor is any depart- 
ment of the French judiciary to be charged with either an 
ignorant, a partial, or a negligent administration of justice 



*356 TRAVELS IN FRANCE 

between man and man ; tbe bar of France, in our day, being 
equal to the best-educated in the world, and the bench of 
th^jt country administering the law, with reference to indepen- 
dence, capacity, assiduity, probity, and dignity, in a manner 
that would well deserve imitation from most other of even 
the most highly favored nations. Yet, after all, there is one 
thing there that is a vast source of want of perfect security ; I 
speak of the absence, very extensively, of a conscience that 
properly realizes a God to whom man is responsible, and a 
future existence. Without such conscience, a man's oath in 
a court of law cannot be a great deal better than his mere 
declaration on honor ; honor, unfortunately, being a thing 
that, on the part of the great body of men in all countries, 
is a non-entity. Also, there, where questions involving reli- 
gious dissent come up in the courts for adjudication, the de- 
cisions very frequently are such as to demonstrate that the 
impartiality, which prevails in relation to other things, is 
sadly lacking as to this class of judicial controversies. 

In the British Islands, no one can complain of the want 
of security, whether as it relates to person, estate, or repu- 
tation. In them, there is much difficulty in acquiring estate 
or reputation, — a vastly greater difficulty than has to be sur- 
mounted, in order to their acquirement, in these United 
States, — but, when acquired, they are almost as secure as 
human life itself, and it is safer in the British Islands, 
(bating four or five counties in Ireland,) than in any other 
land on the globe. Indeed, this country, with all its admitted 
excellencies and advantages, is, as to the points of which I 
am speaking, behind, in my opinion, that. Here, and I have 
had some experience in such matters, I fear that frequently 
neither judges nor the keepers of public records are to be 
depended on, as to independence in exercising their official 
functions, carefulness against the commission of wrong, and 
integrity in the discharge of their duties, to the extent to 
which it is desirable they should be. The fact is, among us, a 
lack of fair dealing and of transparent candor, coupled with 
a thimble-rig mysteriousness in the alienation of property, 
is becoming too characteristic of quite a large portion of men 
of all classes. Such a state of things interferes immensely 
with the proper security of property. And, where men's 
proprietary rights are not safe from being heedlessly or dis- 
honestly tampered with, it is scarcely to be expected that 
their good name will be viewed as having anything belong- 



AND THE BRITISH ISLANDS. 35t 

ing to it, bearing a semblance to sacredness. I will only 
add, as to this point, that, whatever may be the state of 
things elsewhere, in the British Islands, with very few ex- 
ceptions, reputation, estate,- and person, are as safe from 
wrong as it is reasonably to be expected that they will ever 
be, in any condition of society that can exist, till human na- 
ture makes greatly nearer advances to perfection than it has 
yet reached. 

It now only remains that I say something of the states of 
morals and of religion in the countries from the visiting of 
which I am now returning. 

As to the state of morals and religion in France, you can 
scarcely look for me to say a great deal. My stay there 
was very brief, and, all the time, I was so busily engaged in 
inspecting objects of curiosity, as to have little time for ex- 
amining into the moral and religious states of society. I 
must say that, how lax soever may be the moral code of the 
French, of this laxity I saw but little. I did not see a 
single intoxicated man in France. But though the vice of 
inebriety may be rare in that country, yet it is certain that 
vice in other forms is very prevalent ; loose morals, religious 
indififerentism, and infidelity in its worst forms, prevailing in 
the large cities generally, or at least extensively. Even 
prostitution is legalized in Paris, though I ought to mention 
that there is a circumstance connected with this legalization 
which does much to mitigate the evil. I refer to the cir- 
cumstance that houses devoted to this purpose are required 
to keep their windows closed during the day, and are thus 
marked out to the abhorrence of the virtuous as they walk 
the streets. Catholicism in France, as everywhere else, de- 
lights in forms and pomp, addressing itself but little to the 
understanding and the conscience, and thus contributing to 
■mental imbecility and to the slow and gradual wasting of the 
moral faculty. Yet it is sustained even by those who see 
these effects, because it is thought to be politically unwise 
to disturb its reign. I was told by an intelligent French 
gentleman from the neighborhood of the northwestern 
frontier, himself a Catholic, (if believing in any religion,) 
that the great body of the priests, in the country districts 
of France and Belgium, do not statedly preach, and that, 
when they do, their sermons are so lame as to be entirely 
unsuited either to interest or instruct. Yet, among the 
French priesthood, I have seen some specimens of the no- 



358 TRAVELS IN FRANCE 

blest-looking gentlemen that I have ever looked upon. With 
respect to the attendance in the Catholic churches, it did not 
seem, to me, so thin as I had been led to expect. From 
early in the morning of the Sabbath till night, each church 
is kept open, there being in it an unbroken succession of 
services. At each service a new congregation comes in, and 
thus, though at each service the congregation may be small, 
the aggregate attendance during the day may be large. 
With respect to French Protestantism, I remark that it 
ought to be contemplated as consisting of two entirely 
distinct and dissimilar parts. One of these two parts is, 
measuring it by the standard of Bible truth, exceedingly 
defective. It is partly skeptical, partly neological and 
rationalistic, partly Unitarian, partly Erastian, and partly 
indififerentistic and worldly. The fact is, it retains little of 
Protestantism except the name. Protestantism is the reli- 
gion of the Bible, but the Bible as an inspired book it almost 
totally ignores. The other, of the two parts into which 
French Protestantism is divided, is the very reverse of this. 
It is, in the main, scriptural as well as rational in its opinions 
and articles of faith ; spiritual in its homage to the Maker 
and moral Governor of the world ; full of humble, earnest 
application to the Saviour ; and abounding in all the Chris- 
tian graces, in good morals, and in all good works. It is 
certain that very many of the children of the Huguenots 
have fallen from what was once their lofty eminence ; and a 
narrow attachment to the letter of old forms, along with a 
ministry extensively unconverted, has brought about this 
deplorable result. Protestantism is, however, again rising 
from its long-continued spiritual stupor and lethargy. I 
regret to say that Bible Christianity in France, how hum- 
ble and unobtrusive soever it may strive to be, is not, at all 
times, by any means, secure of legal protection as to its 
rights. Romanism is very strong, and has few ideas as to 
any rights belonging to those who refuse implicit submission 
to her lofty claims. And infidelity feels a still greater repug- 
nance to Bible religion than does even the haughty spirit of 
Pop^y. Yet, though permits to Protestant schoolmasters, 
and for the opening of Protestant places of worship, are still 
often refused, the state of things, as it relates to religious li- 
berty, has greatly improved in the last seventy years. Said 
the First Napoleon to O'Meara, in St. Helena, " The oath 
of the kings was to exterminate heretics, mine to protect all 



AND THE BRITISH ISLANDS, 359 

worships." Nor, in spite both of infidelity and Popery, has 
the spirit of this latter oath ceased to have vast influence. 
I also regret to say that, in France, the observance of the 
Sabbath is but little attended to. And this holds true not 
merely with respect to Catholics, but likewise with regard 
to Protestants. In illustration of the laxity as to Sabbath- 
keeping, prevalent among the Protestants, I give you a 
single statement on the authority of P. Edward Dove, Esq. 
This gentleman was in the company of a young French 
Huguenot clergyman, in the south of France, by whom he 
was invited to accompany him to a little town where he was 
going to preach on next Sunday week. "Why not preach 
next Sunday?" said Dove. "Oh, no," was the response; 
" next Sunday there is to be a bull-fight, and nobody ever 
comes to church when there is a bull-fip;'ht !" 

I will conclude my observations on the state of religion in 
France by giving you some statistics illustrative of the past 
decline of Protestantism in that country, and of its present 
slow but sure advancement. It is matter of history that 
upwards of two hundred years ago, (in 1637, or fifty years 
before the revocation of the Edict of Nantes,) the French 
Huguenots had no less than eight hundred and six flourish- 
ing churches. Yet, one hundred and seventy-eight years 
after this, in 1815, the Protestant clergy of the French na- 
tion amounted only, according to one account, to two hun- 
dred and thirty ; and according to another, to two hundred 
and fifty. In 1829, these had increased so that, at that date, 
there were three hundred and five pastors and four hundred 
and thirty-eight churches. And an official document makes 
the Protestant clergy of France, in 1837, to amount to three 
hundred and sixty-six. At present, they may be estimated 
to amount to above four hundred. I would remark that the 
number of the clergy is a better criterion of the state of 
French Protestantism than the number of their churches ; 
one pastor often filling many stations, — and barns, and other 
secular places, being often used as places of worship. How 
small is the influence of Protestantism in France, when put 
side by side with that of Roman Catholicism, may be gathered 
when I mention that, in 1828, the number of actively officiat- 
ing priests was thirty-six thousand six hundred and forty-nine, 
and that at present it is between forty and fifty thousand, 
and that the worshiping assemblies of the priests are much 
larger than those of the pastors. 



360 TRAVELS IN FRANCE 

As to the state of the British Islands in regard to 
morals and religion, I observe that the subject is so very ex- 
tensive that I find it difficult to attempt to say, in a brief 
way, anything on it at all. Also, their various provinces 
differ so widely with respect to their moral and religious 
conditions, as greatly to increase the difficulty of explaining, 
except by going into a lengthened disquisition, the matter 
under review. 

South Britain has so great a preponderance over the other 
parts of the British Islands, that it is always of great conse- 
quence that her moral tone should be healthful. Earlier in 
the development of her civilization and of the elements of 
wealth and power, greatly superior in population and opu- 
lence, and usually the arbitress of their political condition, 
she must always, — both directly as being incorporated with 
them, and by the operation of sympathy, — exercise over them 
a vast power. In South Britain, three great organizations 
of a moral character are at work in moulding the morals of 
the population. I speak of the Established Church, of the 
Dissenters, and of the Roman Catholics. All these parties 
should agree in promoting temperance, sexual purity, a re- 
gard (more or less strict) for the Sabbath, and sterling 
honesty ; yet, as to all these things. South Britain most un- 
doubtedly is far from being in a state entirely satisfactory. 

With respect to temperance in that branch of it that has 
regard to drinks, I observe that bottles, glasses, decanters, 
wines, and all sorts of liquors, meet one everywhere with 
painful frequency and repetition. Excess in drinking is one 
of the vices not least prevalent, and persons drunk are to be 
often met with. Now, such being the case, all professedly 
religious persons of every name should feel called on to enter 
a special protest against the evil. It was a principle in the 
moral code of Paul, that it is good " neither to eat flesh, nor 
TO DRINK WINE, nor anything whereby a brother stumbleth, 
or is offended, or is made weak." And if, in view of the 
danger of ensnaring the consciences of brethren by the ex- 
ample of indulgence in wine, it were right, in apostolic times, 
to abstain from it, though, in these days, — wine being, no 
longer, consecrated to idols, — there may be no danger of 
consciences being ensnared in the particular way in refer- 
ence to which the Apostle speaks ; yet, since there is immi- 
nent danger of their being defiled in a way equally ruinous, 
and since there is not only danger of this but the thing very 



AND THE BRITISH ISLANDS. 361 

often happens, all virtuous persons ought to feel themselves 
under obligation to set au example of abstinence, and ought 
to seek to influence, in favor of this practice, others. And, 
if there were a proper sympathy in that country with the 
ethical principles and sentiments of Paul, such would be the 
fact. I know that, there, there are total-abstinence agencies 
at work; but almost the entire Catholic population, the vast 
and overwhelming majority of persons belonging to the 
Establishment, and a large number of the Dissenters, stand 
criminally aloof from them. These will sometimes excuse 
themselves by saying that Paul was no total-abstinence man. 
But I am, by no means, certain, after what I have just quoted 
from his writings, that such was the fact. And, if he were 
not, this would not alter the case. In his day, there was no 
distillation, with which process we become first acquainted in 
the writings of Arnold de Yilla in the thirteenth century. 
And the discovery of this art has turned over a new page in 
the history of this department of ethics, devolving upon the 
moderns the duty of using additional securities against the 
triumph over them of inebriating potations. 

Again, I observe that there exists in South Britain, I fear, a 
lack of sexual purity among the male portion of the upper 
classes. The English gentleman has the highest respect for, 
and treats with the utmost deference, a woman belonging to 
the same class of society with himself But for a poor girl 
of humble life, he is sometimes lacking in a proper regard. The 
fact is, the aristocratic constitution of society is unfavorable 
to purity in the male part of the upper class and in the fe- 
male part of tlie menial class. In this respect, the equality 
of democracy has greatly the advantage of it. While the 
democrat is the more prone to fall into some errors of other 
sorts, he must be admitted to feel, when compared with the 
aristocrat, a high regard for the purity of the humblest fe- 
male. Yet, while I thus speak, I would notbe understood as 
implying that continence and chastity are not shining virtues 
in the English character. 

Again, I remark that a regard for the day of rest is, by no 
means, so prevalent in South Britain as due reverence for di- 
vine authority, and love for the best interests of mankind, 
require that it should be. Sabbath-breaking is one of the 
two most fruitful sources of crime, intemperance being the 
other. Almost one-half of all who journey far in the paths 

30 



TRAVELS IN FRANCE 

of sin and shame begin by desecrating the day sacred to 
devotion, to religious instruction, to rest, and to charity. 
Yet in England this day, except by the friends of evangeli- 
cal piety, is held in but low respect, compared with Scotland 
or New England. At least, it is very imperfectly sanctified. 
Public gardens, public thoroughfares, and railroads, and, in 
a vast number of cases, empty churches, bear an abundant 
testimony to this. 

And again, in the manufacturing and trading parts of the 
part of Britain of which I am speaking, there is, with not 
a few, a great lack of honesty. An extreme avarice, — an 
avarice not at all inferior to what drives the American ahead 
in his industry and enterprises, — has, in the last generation, 
in those districts, gradually eaten away that exact and scru- 
pulous regard to the possessorial rights of others, which once 
was characteristic of the South Briton. Indeed, a considerable 
portion of the inhabitants of some counties scarcely aim at a 
greater amount of integrity than is necessary to success in 
their business. They would lose credit, for fairness, with 
their customers, if they did not exhibit a certain share of 
integrity ; and that, and that alone, makes them walk 
straightly. But, on the other hand, a large portion of the 
agricultural community are still generally to be honored, and 
that, I fear, in preference to not a small portion of the same 
class in the United States, for their strict fidelity to en- 
gagements of every sort, for their general sense of justice, 
and for their honesty. In respect to this point, I would fur- 
ther remark that, if the opinions of the people themselves 
are to be confided in, the natives of the South of England 
are much honester than those of the North. Indeed, the 
humble class in the South do not hesitate to disavow York- 
shire as being any part of England, because it produces so 
many persons peculiarly shrewd and overreaching in their 
dealings. 

Having said so much in relation to the morals of the peo- 
ple of England and Wales, I will now say a brief something 
as to the state of religion among them. Among them, as I 
hinted above, three great ecclesiastical divisions prevail; to 
wit, the Church of England, the Dissenting communities, and 
the Roman Catholics. With each of these, religion presents 
a different phase. 

The Church of England, or Protestant Episcopal Church, 



AND THE BRITISH ISLANDS. 363 

embraces the majority of the people of England and of the 
Principality. It has under its care nearly eleven thousand 
parish churches, each of a large share of which is served by 
two clergymen ; the sum total of these, being about eighteen 
thousand. These men, with few exceptions, are well versed 
in ancient and modern learning, and many are men of the 
most profound general erudition. Indeed, the English 
Church is not merely an ecclesiastical community aiming at 
the religious instruction and salvation of the English nation, 
but it is also, if I may so speak, a corporate or quasi-corpo- 
rate body for the encouragement of learning and science. In 
it, as at the English bar, and in the medical profession, there 
is no room for the man who, on principle, is illiterate, and 
just as little room for him who is illiterate from laziness. 
The doctrine practically acted on in England is, that litera- 
ture and science are exceptions to the free-trade principle 
of non-protection, and that they need special fostering ; and 
the church is one of the main agencies employed in encour- 
aging talent and laborious study. 'No doubt, this view, with 
proper restrictions, is a correct one. If the theory prevail- 
ing in the United States, of extending no special immunities 
and rewards to scholarship, — while quackery in law, medi- 
cine, divinity, politics, and soldiering, is practically encour- 
aged to no small extent, — had been acted on in South Bri- 
tain from the first, the people of the British nations (and the 
people of the United States along with them) would now be 
vast communities of money-making boors, with very little 
of learning or science in their language. Now, however, we 
inherit, with our language, a literature as rich as exists, or 
has existed, in any other tongue, and we can thus afford, if 
we please, ungratefully to underra,te the utility of the means 
by which it was created. But still, after this admission of 
the usefulness of the English Church as a literary instrumen- 
tality, made above, I must say she has largely swerved from 
the MAIN objects and aims for which a church exists, — the 
moral and religious instruction of the people and the salva- 
tion of their souls. There are many thousands of the clergy- 
men of the Established Church of England, who do not even 
profess ever to have experienced conversion, and who, of 
course, never preach it after the strict manner in which it is 
taught in the Bible, and in that character in which it is ex- 
perienced by all who enter Heaven. This state of things is, 



364 TRAVELS IN FRANCE 

at least in part, brought about by the circumstance that 
parents entertain the idea that a boy can be educated into 
an ambassador of Christ, as an apprentice can be taught 
shoe-making or chair-making. Under the influence of this 
erroneous and mischievous notion, they have their sons tho- 
roughly drilled at school and at one of the universities, in 
the learned tongues, the mathematics, and philosophy, and 
then taught just a little theology; then they undergo an 
easy divinity examination by a bishop, and are approved ; 
and next they are ''japanned," and enter Christ's ministry as 
a mere business. Such men may be gentlemen and scho- 
lars, — scholars that can compose Latin and Greek poetry 
with correctness, and many of whom may be thorough even 
in Geometry of Three Dimensions, — and as such we ought 
to respect them, but they are nearly useless as moral instruc- 
tors and preachers of reconciliation with God. I do not 
mean to say that such is the prevailing character of the 
clergy of the Church of England. Yet there are many 
thousands, such ; men who having failed of the grace of God, 
themselves, are the blindest leaders of the blind. Among 
the parishioners of such divines, almost all is moral desola- 
tion ; no Bible piety in life except among a few hidden ones 
mourning in secret over the dismal state of Zion, and no 
true Bible hope, with multitudes, in the trying hour of death. 
It is well known that the English Church, like the Romish, is 
a congeries of heterogeneous theological parties. There are, 
at the present time, as many as six subdivisions ; to wit, (the 
classification, I ought to say, is, a good deal, my own,) the 
Evangelicals or Low Churchmen, the old-fashioned High 
Churchmen, called also, on account of their formalism, the 
High-and-Dry, the young England High Churchmen, the 
Eclectics, the Puseyites, and the Fox-Hunters. The Evan- 
gelicals are, most of them, a most pious and laborious body 
of men ; warm-hearted, prayerful, and often eloquent ; con- 
scientious, and addressing themselves to men's judgments 
and consciences ; whose praise has ever been in all the 
churches. The "High-and-Dry" are great believers in a 
mystic influence conveyed by means of ordination, in the 
apostolic succession, and in the fathers of the first three cen- 
turies, and are very frequently characterized by a grave dig- 
nity of deportment, and by a dryness and coldness in their 
pulpit prelections. The young England High Churchmen 



AND THE BRITISH ISLANDS. 365 

are Anglo-Catliolics in embryo, and mainly address them- 
selves to the taste ; thus establishing an influence with men 
of an elegant effeminacy of mind. In the same way, they 
exercise great influence with the female sex. This party has 
a great fondness for that beautiful thing, medieval architec- 
ture, and is zealous for improving and beautifying churches. 
Neither, however, do we look on this as a fault, since, ever- 
more and in all places, beauty is its own sufficient reason for 
its being. Yet, in their churches, they unfortunately make 
too much of the conventionalities of heraldry, and too little 
of the Epistles of Paul ; they give too much consequence to 
crosses and triangles, and too little to repentance and the 
work of the Spirit; they paint fishes and salamanders 
when they should be commending justification and faith; 
and allow poppy-heads and gurgoyles to be occupying men's 
thoughts, when they should be seeking, in earnest pursuit, 
after high attainments in sanctification and in new obedience. 
Moreover, with the symbols of heraldry, which they combine 
with their favorite style of architecture, they generally insist 
on associating that grand peculiarity of Romish worship, the 
altar ; while Protestantism refuses to allow the presence of 
this thing, as being incongruous with her doctrines, putting 
the communion table in its stead. The party which takes 
the name of Eclectics, is characterized by its assumption of 
the noble principle, " Nullius jurare in verba magistri." 
This principle, however, at once so admirably practical, and 
so comprehensive in its applicabihty, it too often makes, 
unfortunately, an apology for a broad latitudinarianism, 
vague, and unmeaning, in its teachings of sacred things. 
Again, the Anglo-Catholics, Tractarians, or Puseyites, are 
one of the parties of the English Episcopal Church, The 
capital aim of this party is to bring the Establishment into a 
nearer conformity to the Romish Church, but without ac- 
knowledging the Pope. In doing this, hundreds of the 
clergy have overshot the mark, not stopping short of Rome. 
This movement- was in the zenith of its popularity in the 
years 1842, '43, and '44, but began to retrograde with 
a perpetual retrograding in 184G and '4t, at which time 
conversions to Roman Catholicism became quite numer- 
ous ; partly the cause, and partly the symptom, of a power- 
ful reaction. It is remarkable that those families, that have 
shown a tendency toward Rome, were of the most intolerant 

30* 



TRAVELS IN FRANCE 

toward that communion in relation to the granting of 
Catholic emancipation, and that, on the other hand, the 
families favorable to a liberal policy have remained tho- 
roughly Protestant. And again, I have made, in the Eng- 
lish Establishment, a party which I have named, or nick- 
named, the Fox-Hunters. Under this appellation, I include 
all those parsons who keep race-horses and run them under 
other people's names, all who dance and figure in balls, who 
figure as coarse active politicians, or who, in any manner, 
live gayly or dissolutely, — all such I include in the fox-hunt- 
ing party as much as I do those who see proper to join the 
cliques of country squires in their break-neck leaps over gates 
and hedges, and in their jolly tally-hoes. Such a party ex- 
ists, but is confined to half a dozen men, and is dying out. 

I will only add to what I have said of the Established 
Church of England, that, except I err, by the laws of Eng- 
land, his parish is each incumbent's freehold ; a bad system 
where the pastorate is in the hands of an unfaithful man, 
but, at all events, in complete contrast with the American 
system, under which well-educated, useful, and venerable 
men, have practically no more fixity of tenure, as to their 
fields of usefulness and of livelihood, than has a Connaught 
grazier who, as tenant at will, occupies a mountain grass- 
farm, — a state of things, of which, if it were not that under 
God's mysterious providence there are avenues that lead no- 
where, it may be prophesied that, in the course of centuries, 
it will not IMPROVE clerical character as to honor, manliness, 
transparent candor, and several other virtues. 

As to the Dissenters, I can only take space to say a few 
words. These taken, all of them, together, are nearly as nu- 
merous as the great ecclesiastical body directly countenanced 
by the State. They embrace Congregationalists, Methodists, 
Baptists, Presbyterians, and Unitarians. Among the Con- 
gregationalists is a vast amount of the very best preaching, 
though sometimes not sufficiently characterized by doctrinal 
distinctness. These people are often too straight-jacketed 
in relation to changes in old obsolete and objectionable 
forms. Thus they frequently, if not generally, sit, as if 
resting themselves, in prayer in church ; and I once joined 
in family worship with an excellent Congregationalist family 
in which standing was the posture of prayer in the family 
devotions, — this attitude in family prayer, however, being 



AND THE BRITISH ISLANDS. 36t 

now on the point of becoming entirely obsolete. The Eng- 
lish Presbyterians are orthodox ; but in numerous instances, 
from report, I must say, (I speak mainly on the authority 
of a Scotch Presbyterian resident in Canada, but well ac- 
quainted in various parts of England,) coldly orthodox. 
The Baptists are excellent people, though some of them 
altogether hyper-Calvinistic, or considerably resembling the 
more mitigated of the Hardshells of the United States. 
The Methodists, (whose membership somewhat exceeds two 
hundred and sixty thousand,) are a people warm-hearted 
and active : I believe, as to piety, rather in advance of their 
namesakes in America. While, as to the Unitarians ; (the 
main opportunity of getting information about them, that I 
had, was from a Unitarian clergyman, an old acquaintance, 
who, though a most beautiful elocutionist, and with talent 
enough to be a contributor to the literature of one of the 
ablest of the magazines, because he was not accomplishing 
any good as a preacher, had accepted under government the 
appointment of librarian in a public library;) I remark as 
to these religionists, that they are not growing in num- 
bers, and are very much Socinian in their theology. 

Nor can I stop to say much about the English Koman 
Catholics any more than I have been able to do so in rela- 
tion to the Dissenters. A large number of them belong to 
the wealthy class. They have places of worship dotted all 
over the face of the country ; there being as many as twenty- 
five in London and its suburbs alone. Lancashire, however, 
is the stronghold of English Catholicism. In consequence 
of emigration from Ireland, it is greatly on the increase. 
It has now about 1150 priests and about 880 chapels, the 
priests having increased at the rate of nearly two and a half 
to one, and the chapels of two to one, in .the last twenty-six 
years. From its contact with Protestantism, it is, in com- 
parison with Catholic lands, chastened in its pretensions and 
guarded in its morals. 

Having said so much in relation to the morals and reli- 
gious condition of South Britian, I come now to say some- 
thing of the same things in Scotland. 

The state of morals in Scotland is undoubtedly more 
favorable than it is in England. Miserable religious igno- 
rance, Sabbath-breakiog, uncleanness, drunkenness, and all 
the great vices are rarer. Yet drunkenness is still a prevail- 



368 TRAVELS IN FRANCE 

ing vice. The fact is, the Scottish clergy never took hold 
of the temperance reformation with full zeal. Numbers 
urged the subject on the attention of their people, but mul- 
titudes of them cast it into the shade. Indeed, I have seen, 
after a lecture on a v^^eek night, an accredited agent of the 
Free Church of Scotland, a popular and eloquent clergy- 
man, engage in drinking an intoxicating beverage in the 
presence of three other clergymen, two of whom readily 
joined him in drinking also. 

As to the state of religion in that country, it is undoubt- 
edly greatly on the advance. Eor a long series of years, 
the chief body of the churches has been undergoing a bene- 
ficial change. About 1714, when Simpson was appointed 
Professor of Theology in Glasgow, piety and Bible doctrine 
began to experience a decline in the universities. This 
was followed, in the various parishes, by a change, in the 
style of preaching, very apparent. Orthodox formalism 
and a cold Armenianism began to take the place of the old 
piety aAid doctrine that the Scottish pulpit had hitherto pro- 
claimed. This was followed by a carelessness as to attend- 
ance on the means of grace. This state of things continued, 
though with exceptions in numerous parishes, till after the 
first French Revolution. Indeed, between 1750 and 1783, 
hundreds of families passed from the churches in Scotland over 
to Popery. But a revival, about the time indicated above, com- 
menced, which is still progressing. The doctrines of grace be- 
gan to be warmly preached, and, as a consequence of this, men 
to attend more numerously on public worship ; this latter cir- 
cumstance furnishing an illustration of the native adaptation, 
to popularity, of evangelical religion, above all other forms of 
religion, — an adaptation, no doubt, growing out of the fact 
that it, and the human conscience, equally, have God for their 
author, who has made them to correspond to each other. 
This revival was accelerated by the passage of the Parlia- 
mentary Reform Bill in 1832 ; the patrons of parishes, who 
are mostly active politicians, being compelled thenceforth to 
consult, in a greater degree, the popular desires. Also, the 
revival has been greatly helped on by the various bodies of 
Dissenting Presbyterians. Besides, such men as Thompson, 
Wardlow, and Chalmers, contributed much to push it for- 
ward. And a still greater momentum was given to it in 
1843, when the Free Church, by the disruption of four hun- 



AND THE BRITISH ISLANDS. 369 

dred and seventy clergymen from the Establishment, came 
into being. The preaching in the State-allied branch of the 
Scottish Presbyterians, as well as in the pulpits of the Free 
Church, of the United Presbyterian, and of other evangeli- 
cal denominations, is now very often excellent. 

I add that the Established Church has, on the mainland 
and the islands together, one thousand and twenty-three 
parishes served by about one thousand and fifty clergymen, 
and that the numerical strength of the various ecclesiastical 
communities dissenting, or seceding, from it, is about in the 
proportion of two on their side to one on its. 

As to the Scottish Protestant Episcopal Church, I re- 
mark that it is but a small body, embracing a population of 
only about twenty-seven or twenty-eight thousand ; though 
numbering, among this restricted circle of adherents, a very 
disproportionately large share of the aristocracy of the 
country. It is thoroughly Tractarian ; so completely so, 
that not more than one or two of its clergy are evangelical. 

As to the Catholic Church in Scotland, I observe" that it 
musters a numerical strength of nearly fifty thousand ; more 
than one-half of this number being made up of Koman 
Catholic emigrants from Ireland. 

In my opinion, the progress of true religion in North 
Britain is mainly retarded by the following causes. Eirst, 
there is a commendable fondness in many parents to bring 
up one of their children for the Christian ministry, and this 
desire very often, to the great injury of souls, gratifies 
itself, irrespective of the young person's piety. Secondly, 
there is no warm preaching in the chapels of the Scottish 
universities, such as students in American colleges are accus- 
tomed to listen to; no regular and systematic courses of 
practical theology addressed, from the pulpit, to the intel- 
lects, judgments, and consciences, of the youthful auditors. 
Neither are there maintained by the professors college 
prayer meetings and Bible classes. Thirdly, the custom of 
making the house of God a place for academic prelections, 
instead of sermons, and orations, delivered without manu- 
script, is becoming very injuriously common. And again, a 
provincial narrow-minded old-fashionedness, — an attachment 
to the old ways and things of an obsolete age, almost as 
contracted, as were the narrow views of the old Judaizing 
Christians, — interferes, on the part of the multitude, in many 



3t0 TRAVELS IN FRANCE 

points of view, with the unembarrassed onward progress of 
a piety purely rational and biblical. 

Next, the states of morals and of religion in Ireland call, 
before the closing of my letter, for some remarks from me. 

With regard to the state of morals among the people of 
Ireland, I observe that, in what I will say in reference to 
this matter, I will confine myself to a few points. I will ob- 
serve as to the honesty, the temperance in the use of inebri- 
ating beverages, the industry, and the love of order and 
peace, that exist among them. As to a general honesty, my 
impression is that there is no people much superior to the 
Irish. Yet, when it comes to the details of this duty, they often 
greatly err. But even when erring, there is an honesty about 
them, in their mistakes, that does not often characterize the 
dishonesty of the people of other nations. They do wrong 
not from a spirit of avarice, or of falsehood, or of fraud, but 
from some patriotic or superstitious prejudice Let a man 
have Irish laborers to do work, and let him subsequently 
employ others to do similar work, and, by comparing, he 
will soon discover who they are, of the two sets of employees, 
that comply most completely with the spirit and letter of 
their contract. Again, as to the degree of temperance in 
the use of intoxicating drinks to be met with in Ireland, 
there is a great deal of misconception. No doubt, in this 
respect, the Irish are behind the people of the sister island, 
and still farther behind a people so abstinent as are the 
French. Yet they are far from being so drunken as the 
Russians, or as the inhabitants of some districts in Germany, 
or as those of some other countries. In a public gathering 
in that country, there are certainly fewer intoxicated per- 
sons to be seen than are ordinarily to be seen in a gathering, 
of the same number of people, in the United States. Also, 
in the United States, I have known towns in which the peo- 
ple seemed to die of mania a potu, as often as of any other dis- 
ease, while in Ireland it is almost unknown ; and though this 
difference in favor of the Irish may in part arise from American 
liquor-dealers understanding better than their Irish fellow- 
traffickers how to enrich themselves by adulterating their 
liquors with deleterious drags, yet I am of opinion that this^. 
is not the sole cause of the difference mentioned, but that 
deeper and more frequent potations have largely to do with it. 
Yet, above almost any other nation, the Irish need a vast re- 



AND THE BRITISH ISLANDS. 3tl 

form. Not many Protestant ministers, (whether Episcopal or 
Presbyterian,) and very few of the Roman Catholic priest- 
hood, either practice or urge total abstinence. Thus the poor 
emigrant goes forth from his native shores, not principled 
in whatever of temperance he may. possess. And cut loose 
from all old social ties and restraints, and cast into the 
midst of temptation, no worder if, not being principled as 
to drinking, he should, in very numerous instances, gradu- 
ally become an inebriate, and eventually sink into the drunk- 
ard's grave and hell. Such, through the lack of fidelity in 
their instructors and guides, has been the history of many 
tens of thousands. Again, as to the degree of industry 
prevailing in Ireland. In creating the products of industry 
the Irish are much behind most of the nations of Western 
Europe. Yet it is not in industriousness, but in skill, that 
they are deficient. The turnpikes, the canals, the railroads, 
the dockyards, of the British Islands and of the United 
States, the magnificent fruits of their laboriousness, witness 
to their unceasing and ardent application to toil properly 
rewarded. At home, however, they do not generally toil as 
they do abroad, the reason of this being that wages, "the 
great reconcilers of liberty with labor," have in the past been 
so small as to furnish no adequate motive. Moreover, as to 
the Irish love of order and peace. It is here that the Irish 
character is most wanting. A large minority of the popu- 
lation, in all ages, has been absurdly pugnacious, and fool- 
ishly and criminally prone to disorderliness. A spirit of 
mildness and of conciliation, and a spirit that will be abhor- 
rent of violence, of tumult, and of turbulence, greatly need 
to be yet infused into a portion of the Irish mind. 

With respect to the state of religion in Ireland, I now 
proceed to make some remarks. The three leading denomi-. 
nations in that land are, the Protestant Episcopal, the Pres- 
byterian, and, above all, the Roman Catholic. In addition 
to these, there are, also, Methodists and Congregationalists, 
and, also. Reformed Presbyterians, Unitarians, Associate 
Presbyterians, Baptists, Moravians, and Friends. 

The Protestant Episcopal Church of Ireland is the com- 
Kiunion established by law. It has under its spiritual care 
somewhat more than twenty-one hundred parishes minis- 
tered to by about thirteen hundred beneficed clergymen and 
about four hundred curates. The population adhering to it 



312 TRAVELS IN TRANCE 

ranges at about seven hundred and sixty thousand. This is 
the denomination of the wealthy and the fashionable. There 
are among its clergy nearly the same parties that exist in 
the English Establishment. Tractarianism, however, is less 
influential, comparatively, than in England. Yet it is, by 
no means, absent. I spent some time in an Irish parish, the 
history of a late incumbent of which is nearly what I am 
about to give. He was a man of eminent scholarship, 
having been a fellow of the University of Dublin. But clas- 
sics and mathematics did not monopolize all his attention. 
For the sake of variety, — since variety is the spice of life, — 
he occasionally mingled with them practice in pugilism and 
horsemanship ; and, being an active, athletic, and bold 
man, he was one of the best boxers and horsemen in the 
island. He was also an Orangeman and ardent politician, 
and, being an accomplished orator, occasionally made, in 
these characters, speeches. In one of these, which I read, I 
recollect him to have described, with a most admirable 
jocoseness, the Irish Church under the figure of a noble milch 
cow, to be milked by the younger sons of the aristocracy. 
Subsequently, he settled, as rector, in the parish to which I 
above alluded. Yet, with all his scholarship and eloquence, 
he was an uninteresting preacher. After awhile, alarmed 
about his eternal safety, and reluctant to embrace the Pau- 
line scheme of salvation, he became a Paseyite, to the horror 
of his relatives and parishioners. Nor were these wanting 
in ways to manifest their dislike of this, winding up of his 
course. On a certain holiday, he had adorned the altar of 
the parish church to his taste, and lighted up around it huge 
candles, himself being devoutly seated, with open prayer- 
book, in the midst. One of the people of his charge, after 
another, would come to the church door, and, having looked 
in, would return home, so that finally the rector was nearly 
left to be the entire congregation. But here his death in- 
terposed to prevent further innovation on his part, and fur- 
ther expressions of resentment on the part of the people. 
Now for .a brief character of a certain other Irish Episcopal 
clergyman, but of a somewhat different school. He was a 
scholar, a man of talents, a polished gentleman, (though saici 
to be, in this character, rather licentious,) a highly useful 
justice of the peace, and the captain of an admirably trained 
military company. As might be expected, though gifted 



AND THE BRITISH ISLANDS. 3'T3 

with rare talents, he was a very poor preacher. Again, I 
was told by a respectable individual who had been, in the 
employment of the government, in Connaught, the father 
of a popular minister of the Free Church of Scotland, — I 
was told by this person of a clergyman of the Established 
Church in the part of Ireland named, (and the case is given 
as a sample, though an extreme one,) who diverged even 
farther, than the man just spoken of, from the line of Chris- 
tian deportment. This divine was settled in a parish in 
which there was only a handful of Protestants, and in which 
his uncle, a man with an income of ten thousand pounds 
sterling per year, was the only person belonging to the class 
of the gentry, who was not a Catholic. Said man would 
devoutly go through religious services on the morning of the 
Sabbath, and would spend the afternoon, in company with 
the Catholic gentry of the neighborhood, in partridge shoot- 
ing. He was the heir of his uncle's property and looked on 
the church as being only a something wherewithal to shift 
along till the old man's death. The unfaithful pastor, how- 
ever, was doomed to be disappointed. It happened that 
the old gentleman, who was blind, had, for housekeeper, the 
widow of a sergeant in the army ; and, owing to her urgency, 
he went to London to a celebrated oculist, by whom his 
vision was restored. In a paroxysm of gratitude, he mar- 
ried her, and took her back, to his mansion in Connaught, no 
longer his housekeeper but wife. But the rector's wife, a 
haughty woman, refused to admit her into the family pew. 
In these circumstances, the recent convalescent made a will, 
cutting off the family of his nephew, and making the de- 
ceased sergeant's son, his wife's only child, his chief heir. 
And the will has been confirmed by the courts. Thus has 
the old family property of the Rutledges passed to a stran- 
ger. Such cases as have been given, nevertheless, are very 
extreme cases. There is a very large number of most ex- 
cellent, able and exemplary ministers, in the Established 
Church of Ireland. Indeed, about the most eloquent, pa- 
thetic, fluent, beautiful, and graceful and dignified pulpit- 
orator that I ever listened to, I heard, accidentally, on the 
after part of a Sabbath, preach in an Irish church of the 
Establishment. The sweetness and power of the gospel were 
in every utterance, in every figure, in every glance of the 
piercing eye, and in every movement of the arm. With him, 

31 



SI 4: TRAVELS IN FRANCE 

discipline of mind, refined taste, a mastery of the English 
tongue, and a glowing heart, were in the stead of a manu- 
script. If the university and colleges had a few such chap- 
lains to preach to their students a practical course of scrip- 
turally systematic theology on the Sundays, and to establish 
Bible classes among them, soon would moral ignorance 
and vice be "cribbed and hemmed" within narrow limits in 
Ireland. 

With respect to that denomination of Christians which 
acknowledges the General Assembly of the Presbyterian 
Church in Ireland, as its supreme ecclesiastical judicatory, I 
observe that it embraces five hundred and thirty-five minis- 
ters and five hundred and five congregations, and that the 
population looking to it for religious instruction amounts to 
about six hundred and sixty thousand. Of this population 
the chief seat is the northeastern part of the island, though 
a part of it has its home in the south and west ; there being 
no county that is without a Presbyterian congregation. 
This religious community dates its ecclesiastical existence, 
at least as an organized body, from June 10, 1642, when the 
first Presbytery met in Ireland. This Presbytery, (which 
met at Carrickfergus,) was formed by the chaplains of the 
Scottish army which had lately been sent to Ireland to assist 
the Irish Protestants to make headway against the Catho- 
lics. It was also almost immediately joined by several Irish 
Protestant clergymen. Its first great success was among 
that class in whose veins Scotch blood predominated. These, 
even before this event, as well as many who were not of 
Scottish descent, had a strong inclination to nonconfor- 
mity. And this inclination, in connection with the fact 
that the late massacre had either destroyed the Protestant 
clergy or driven them off, and with the peculiar ecclesiastical 
temper of the times, led them readily to fall in with the 
preachers who had lately come across the North Channel. 
Religion was, among the Presbyterians of Ireland, in an ex- 
ceedingly flourishing state, from its first introduction, — and 
this in spite of the terrific civil wars, and of severe persecu- 
tion, — down till some time about 1123, when, we are told, " a 
terrible degree of decay in serious godliness" began ; confes- 
sions of faith, coming to be looked on by many as a galling 
yoke, and many of the young ministers beginning to lean 
toward orthodox formalism, a cold Armenianism, and 



AND THE BRITISH ISLANDS. 375 

even Arianism. It was chiefly in consequence of this decline 
in religion that Irish Unitarianism grew up. It was also in 
consequence of it that the Presbyterian Synod of Ireland, (or 
Seceders,) a body, in its early years, remarkable for the piety 
of its pastors and churches, came into being. Of late years, 
a revival of piety and of doctrinal purity, has been going on 
among the Presbyterians on all hands. And, in consequence 
of this, there has been complete separation from Unitarian- 
ism, while the Seceding Communion has been happily re- 
united to the parent stock. The first symptoms of this re- 
vival, in the original and the larger Presbyterian body, began 
to manifest themselves as early as 1803, before which time 
the influence of the pious few in the church had been very 
slightly felt. In 1829 and 1830, the IJnitarians, and the be- 
lievers in the divinity of the Saviour and of the Holy Spirit, 
finally separated. And, in 1840, the two leading bodies of 
Presbyterians coalesced, their supreme judicatory taking to 
itself the title of " The General Assembly of the Presbyterian 
Church in Ireland." No doubt, practical religion, in many 
of the congregations under the supervision of this judicatory, 
is now in a very prosperous state. But, on the other hand, 
there are very many of its churches in which this is very far 
from being the fact. The ministers are carnal and lazy, and 
the people are as dead as stagnant water. A powerful spi- 
ritual revival, a pentecostal season in which sinners would 
be converted and saints made to grow in grace, would greatly 
change and improve the religious character of this denomi- 
nation, developing its activities in behalf of the spread of 
Bible piety all over the island. As matters are just now, 
there are many, very many, of its churches in which there is 
neither prayer meeting nor Bible class. 

There are several things that are needed by the Irish Pres- 
byterians in order to their onward progress. They greatly 
need in Queen's College, (Belfast,) and in their Theological 
Seminary, a chaplain, or chaplains, men of fervent Bible 
piety, of simple yet pure taste, of a thorough knowledge of 
the great doctrines of theology, (yet overlooking its tri- 
vialities,) and of effective elocution ; men who, by Bible 
classes and all other proper ways, will promote, among col- 
lege and theological students, the interests of godliness. 
Again, the Presbyterians of that country need a more libe- 
ral spirit with respect to psalmody. They are now nearly 



3*76 TRAVELS IN FRANCE 

restricted, contrary to the judgment of many of them, to a 
single poetic version of the Psalms, without the use of hymns 
or paraphrases. Now Paul mentions the having of psalms 
adapted to use in Christian worship among the miraculous 
gifts conferred on the Apostolic Church ; by which he could 
not mean the mere selecting of one of the poetical composi- 
tions of the Old Testament, since this would be no miracu- 
lous gift. Now this certainly shows, or seems to intimate 
to us, (if the usus loquendi of the phraseology of the Bible, 
''psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs," did not, apart from 
this, sufficiently establish it,) that Grod intended us not to 
restrict ourselves to the Psalms of the Old Dispensation, 
but that, without being guilty of the impiety of discarding 
them, we should use, in addition to them, in the praises of 
God, other poetic compositions containing ideas from the 
Word of Inspiration. At least a strong presumption to this 
effect is thus made out. No wonder then if spiritual lame- 
ness, and unpopularity with many to be won to Christ, 
should be the result, where a Church refuses to avail itself of 
all the helps to divine praise, which Providence has put 
within its reach. Again, the Irish Presbyterians are want- 
ing with respect to the employing of evangelists among both 
the Irish speaking and English speaking population of their 
country, destitute of the gospel. And again, they are not 
those zealous and unflinching total- abstinence men whom 
this drunken age of the world demands to put an effectual 
check on its proclivity. 

I observe, with respect to Catholicism in Ireland, that it 
embraces a population of about five millions ; which is un- 
der the guidance, in spiritual matters, of about two thousand 
ecclesiastics, or perhaps their numbers may now considera- 
bly exceed this. These ecclesiastics are almost invariably 
men of good education. I doubt whether any other Roman 
Catholic population in Europe, of equal numbers, is served by 
men generally so well instructed in secular learning, as also in 
the dogmas of Catholicism, as are those who minister to the 
Catholics of Ireland. That the Irish priesthood should be 
trained in liberal studies should be matter of general gratifica- 
tion ; but that they should be drilled in the peculiar dogmas 
of Popery can afford gratification to those alone who believe 
in them. These men, as clergymen, are mostly moral in their 
lives, and attentive to their professional duties. Apart from 



AND THE BRITISH ISLANDS. 37 1 

the fact that they err in regard to the truths of God's Word, 
their great errors are, that they are defective and cold in the 
discharge of their pulpit duties, and that not a few of them 
allow everything devotional to be engulfed in the acerbities 
of politics. The Catholic priesthood do not preach regularly, 
and, when they do, they either preach polemics when they 
should be inculcating moral duties, or they preach as if they 
were instructing children. I dined at the same table, in a 
private family, at Belfast, with a number of young men from 
Germany, who were residing in that borough as merchants. 
Several of them were Roman Catholics, and they told me 
that the Irish priests, in their discourses, were great scolds ; 
endeavoring, as it seemed to them, to scold their parishion- 
ers, like as if they were so many half-grown children, to do 
what they wanted them to do. And as to the share of the 
Irish priesthood in the bitterness of party politics, it is well 
known that they have long been most violent partisans. As 
educated men they should have an independent suffrage ; 
but here, in ordinary times, the interference of the clergy- 
man in politics should stop. The fact is, that cold and bitter 
polemics, and red-hot and most bitter party politics, have, to- 
gether, banished from the hearts of the priesthood in that 
country no small share of the spirit that characterizes the 
writings of Fenelon and Massillon. 

With respect to the Methodist Church in Ireland, I ob- 
serve that it is quite a small denomination. It first began 
to have some foothold in Ireland as early as 1748, in which 
year that country was visited by Wesley himself. In It 99, — 
at which time the Methodists first established, on a firm and 
broad foundation, their Irish Mission, — the denomination 
took a new start. It has had, among its itinerants, some 
most apostolic men ; among others, Gideon Ouseley. It 
suffers much from emigration, and also from the difficulty of 
obtaining, from the narrow bigotry and penuriousness of the 
landholders, convenient sites for churches and school-houses. 
Also, some of its ministers suffer much from poverty. While 
there I preached for a very worthy man advanced in years, 
with a wife having the manners and sentiments of a lady, 
and with a growing up family of children, and yet this man 
could not keep a horse, but had, in fulfilling appointments 
of fourteen and fifteen miles off, to go a considerable part of 
the way on foot. I am sure that if rich American Metho- 



3T8 TRAVELS IN FRANCE, ETC. 

dists were to correspond with such men, and render them 
some assistance in a quiet way, Christ, in return, would say 
to them on the Day of Judgment, "What ye did to them I 
count as if done to myself." At the present time this deno- 
mination has one hundred and fifty-nine ministers, (of whom 
twenty-seven are domestic missionaries,) and eighteen thou- 
sand seven hundred and forty-nine members ; the population 
depending on it for spiritual instruction amounting probably 
to forty or fifty thousand. Its prospects are fair, and I con- 
sider it just the instrumentality for evangelizing, (along with 
portions of other classes,) the Irish laboring class. 

With respect to the Irish Unitarians, I observe that they 
have fifty-three ministers and forty-six congregations ; the 
population adhering to them amounting, probably, to about 
twenty or twenty-five thousand. They have in their theolo- 
gical school three professors. The opinions of the majority 
of the Irish Unitarian clergy are said to be what are called 
High-Arian. There is no class of religionists in Europe, 
that comes so near the views of Evangelical Christians in 
America, on the subject of religious liberty and toleration, 
as this body. 

With respect to the two bodies of Reformed Presbyteri- 
ans, (or Covenanters,) I observe that, (being taken together,) 
they have thirty-three ministerial charges ministered to by 
twenty-six pastors. The main thing that prevents this 
denomination from growing is an excessive straight-jacket- 
edness. 

With respect to the Associate Presbyterians, I observe 
that they have one presbytery, with six ministers and seven 
congregations. 

And with respect to the Congregationalists, Baptists, 
Moravians, and Friends, I observe that they are quite small 
denominations; the Congregationalists having fourteen 
churches, the Baptists having nine, and the Moravians hav- 
ing five. 

I will conclude this long letter, which, when sitting down 
to write it, I expected to make short, by saying that, in two 
or THREE DAYS, Provideucc aiding, I expect to be at home 
again. Yours, &c., M. F. 



APPENDIX. 



NOTE I. (letter I. AT PAGE 16.) 

I MAY remark that, large as the island of ice spoken of in the 
text was, still vastly larger icebergs are occasionally met with ; 
the French ship, the Astrolobe, having measured some ranging 
from 100 to 225 feet above water, and from two to five miles 
across. 

NOTE II. (letter IV. at page 30.) 

I MAY here say a word as to the manner in which the ancient 
Egyptians moved immense blocks of stone. A painting in a 
tomb, (of about 1650 before Christ,) near the village of Dayr-e- 
Nakl, discovered by Irby and Mangles, casts much light on the 
subject. In this painting, a plankroad is represented, bearing a 
wooden sled on skate-shaped wooden runners; this sled being 
dragged by four rows of men, (forty-three in each row,) pulling at 
ropes or chains. On this vehicle the weight rests. And, also, a 
man is pictured as pouring grease on the planks, while another 
beats time with his hands that all may pull together. By this 
simple machinery, (in which, in j)reference to rollers, wood slides 
over wood well lubricated,) were the most ponderous masses suc- 
cessfully transported, in Egypt, four thousand years ago, over the 
most embarrassing distances, — the motive power being furnished 
by the intelligent and careful division and distribution of simple 
human force. 

NOTE III. (letter VIII. at page 64.) 

Peter Abelard was born in the little village of Palais in Brit- 
tany, in the twelth century. He studied in Paris under William 
des Champeaux. Distinguished for the highest elegancies and 
perfections of person and mind, he soon became a wonderfully 
eminent lecturer in all medieval learning. In his twenty-seventh 
year, he became acquainted with the youthful, beautiful, and ac- 
complished Eloise, the niece of Fulbert, a canon of Notre Dame. 
A mutual passion grew up, which led to irregularity. Finally, 

, (379) 



380 APPENDIX. 

the two lovers were married ; the marriage, however, being disa- 
vowed to the public. The apparent improper intercourse in 
these circumstances provoked her relatives to mutilate him inhu- 
manly, so that he placed her in a convent. After this, himself 
also entered a monastery. But, leaving it, he retired to a solitary 
place, where he built an oratory, to which he gave the name of the 
Paraclete ; this oratory soon becoming a grand centre of attrac- 
tion to students and even learned theologians and philosophers. 
Being condemned, by a council, as heterodox, he was driven 
thence, but had influence to have his oratory converted into a con- 
vent, of which Eloise became the head. He died in 1142, aged 
sixty-three, and his remains were claimed by his wife, who placed 
them in a tomb in the Paraclete ; and, she dying in 1163, her 
body was placed beside his. The splendid talents, the love, the 
misfortunes, the theological persecutions, and the sensibility and 
piety of the letters of Abelard, together with the extraordinary 
character and abilities, the famed beauty, and the undying love, 
and tenderness, (as manifested in her letters,) of Eloise, have lent 
an interest likely to last through all time to the history of this 
cloistered pair. They left a son, the offspring of their earliest 
love, named Astralabus. 

NOTE lY. (letter xvi. at page 127.) 

The Royal Chapel in Whitehall Palace, as I may again men- 
tion, is the ancient apartment whence Charles I. stepped forth on 
the scaffold. Besides, it was the place where his headless corpse 
was laid out. An incident of a curious character is said to have 
occurred in connection with the vigils over his dead body ; which 
it may not be improper here to refer to. That such a thing oc- 
curred has been denied by a great historian. The story, how- 
ever, is, by no means, without foundation. Indeed many 
occurrences are to be met with in biographies that are not half 
so well sustained. The writer, from whose pen it comes down to 
us is Spence. He writes as follows: "The night after King 
Charles I. was beheaded. Lord Southampton and a friend of 
his got leave to sit up, by the body, in the banqueting- 
house at Whitehall. As they were sitting very melancholy 
there, about two o'clock in the morning, they heard the tread 
of some one coming very slowly up stairs. By and by the 
door opened, and a man entered very much muffled up in 
his cloak, and his face quite hid in it. He approached the 
body, considered it very attentively for some time, and then 
shook his head and sighed out the words, ' Cruel necessity !' — 
He then departed in the same slow and concealed manner as he 
had come in. Lord Southampton used to say that he could not 
distinguish anything of his face, but that, by his voice and gait, 

HE TOOK HIM TO BE OlIVER CrOMWELL." 



APPENDIX. 381 

NOTE Y. (letter xvii. at page 136. 

With regard to the Rosetta Stone, I may here make one or 
two remarks. Its original size was about three feet by two ; but 
it is mutilated, the upper and lower parts being broken and in- 
jured. The hieroglyphical writing on it, (in ancient times, so 
much in vogue in Egypt,) was deciphered by the following curi- 
ous process. After a great deal of study had been fruitlessly 
expended, it was guessed, from the number of times of its occur- 
rence, that an oval ring, (technically called a cartouch,) which 
is on it, signifies Ptolemy. The same ring was observed to be 
on an obelisk brought from Philse; the Greek inscription on 
which makes mention of Ptolemy and Cleopatra. It was also 
noticed that another ring supposed to denote Cleopatra was 
marked on the obelisk. On the comparing of the characters in 
the cartouches on the Rosetta slab with those in one of the car- 
touches on the obelisk, they were found to correspond. This 
made it probable in a high degree that the characters in the car- 
touches thus answering to each other, as it had been guessed, did 
mean Ptolemy, — while those in the other cartouch would in this 
case be almost certain to denote Cleopatra. Then, on the further 
carrying out of the comparison, it was found that the first cha- 
racter in Ptolemy answered to the fifth in Cleopatra, being a 
square block and standing for the letter P. Also the third cha- 
racter in Ptolemy and the fourth in Cleopatra were found to be 
alike, being a knotted cord and standing for the letter 0. In a 
similar way, L, which is represented by a lion, was brought out. 
And again, it was remarked that the sixth and ninth characters 
in Cleopatra, a hawk, were alike ; and therefore standing for the 
letter A. Such was the first clew to the hieroglyphical alphabet. 

When speaking of this stone and its hieroglyphics, I may add 
to what I have said, that, after, by its means, one style of hiero- 
glyphical writing had come to be spelled out, it was more clearly 
seen than it had been seen before, that there were two other styles. 
How this came to be the case, may be thus explained. The ori- 
ginal style, (such as is to be found in very ancient monuments,) 
was made up of complete pictures, and was, every way, difficult 
and tedious. To this succeeded the hieratic, (the style of priestly 
writings,) which consisted of outlines derived from the pictures 
just spoken of. And after this followed the demotic or popular ; 
(the style of ordinary transactions ;) it having been a sort of run- 
ning hand derived from the others. Two of these styles are ex- 
emplified on the stone in the British Museum. 

NOTE YI. (letter xx. at page 180.) 

Having said a word as to the shape of the apartments in 
which the Lords and Commons of Great Britain assemble, I will 



382 APPENDIX. 

add a word as to the various forms by which the halls, in which 
deliberative bodies meet, may be, or have been, characterized. 
One form is that which was proposed, during the first French 
Revolution, by the mathematician and revolutionary Politician, 
Monge. He, while acting as professor in the Paris Polytechnical 
School, published a lecture, " Sur la Forme le plus Convenable pour 
Une Salle d'Assemblee." According to this plan, deliberative halls 
should be constructed after the manner of an amphitheatre, but 
of an elliptical figure, since it is demonstrated by experience that 
speakers standing in front are best heard ; that thus beauty and 
utility may be at once made to meet. Also, according to this 
plan, the most proper form for the roof is the moiety of an 
ellipsoid ; the vault to be supported by an elliptical arch, that 
thus, "by confining the volume of air, the orator's voice may ac- 
quire a greater force." Another form for such halls is that of the 
ancient theatre, which was a semicircle, but exceeding it by a 
fourth of its diameter ; the legislative apartments of France and 
the United States having been, at least to a considerable extent, 
constructed on this model. Another form for a hall of debate 
and deliberation was exemplified in the apartment of the Com- 
mons in the former Irish Parliament House, (now the Bank of 
Ireland.) This apartment was remarkable for its classic chaste- 
ness ; being a perfect rotunda, with Ionic pilasters, and having an 
enclosed corridor running around the interior, — while magnificence 
was bestowed on the whole by a cupola of immense height. Nor 
was there wanting a noble gallery, (the gallery having been capa- 
ble of holding seven hundred spectators,) nor seats for the ladies. 
The other form, by which the halls of deliberative bodies are 
characterized, is that of the Eoman basilica; the form adopted in 
the halls of the Lords and Commons of the British Islands. I 
would add that in the new Chamber of Representatives, and in 
the new Senate Chamber, which are about being constructed in 
the wings that are now in the act of being added to the Capitol 
in Washington, the model of the ancient basilica is what, follow- 
ing in the footsteps of the British Parliament, is mainly to be 
copied ; the idea having come to be now cherished that the form 
of a rectangle is best suited to halls for public speaking. 

NOTE YII. (letter xxviii. at page 280.) 

A CURIOUS tradition and belief existed in Ireland, in the twelfth 
century, in relation to Lough Neagh; which has been handed 
down to our time by Giraldus. According to this ancient tradi- 
tion and opinion, the lake had originally been merely a vast 
spring, the country around which was filled with numerous Round 
Towers ; but that the spring overflowing had inundated the entire 
region, the water rising far above the tops of the Towers, — these 
being visible, in fair weather, to the fishermen sailing over them. 



APPENDIX. 383 

Says the author just named, "Piscatores aquae illius, turres eccle- 
siasticas quae, more patrias aratge, sunt et altae, necnon et rotundse, 
sub undis, manifeste, sereuo tempore, conspiciunt, et, extraneis 
transeuntibus, reique eausam admirantibus, frequenter ostendunt." 
It is to this strange idea that the poet, Moore, makes allusion in 
the following verses : 

" On Lough Neagh's bank, as the fisherman strays, 
When the clear cold eve's declining, 
He sees the Round Towers of other days 
In the wave beneath him shining ! 

"Thus shall memory often, in dreams sublime, 
Catch a glimpse of the days that are over; 
Thus, sighing, look, through the waves of time, 
For the long-faded glories they cover." 



THE END. 



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